Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Pocket PC and Dance

A few years ago I bought a ASUS MYPAL A600 Pocket PC for a whopping RM 2200. In that period, 400 MHz Pocket PC is pretty new and is at its prime price. I bought it because I need a Pocket PC urgently and the other models look sucks. I was supposed to be in a joint venture business with a friend to develop mobile application for insurance agent, but the co-op went bad due to differences in expectation and I wasn't experienced enough in dealing with people in business. I end up doing freelance work by my own and sold the Pocket PC to my sis for a mere RM 400 one year later (special price).

Recently the device had some hardware problem, where input from the touch pen is no longer that sensitive, clinging on its end of life span. Since no one actually repair a Pocket PC cheaply, I advised her to get a new one instead. She like iPAQ because most of her colleagues uses iPAQs as well (seems like HP-COMPAQ is doing well in Pocket PC market segment). There are a few model ranging from RM 888, RM 1388, RM 1588 and above. Since bluetooth, WLAN, Camera and expansion slot is quite useless to her, I advice her to go for the cheapest one. I can't quite recall the iPAQ model that cost RM 888 (a bunch of not memory-friendly alphanumeric characters), but the model is on the verge of obsolete and every shop doesn’t have the stocks.

There is this very cool and informative salesperson who introduce ACER N30 to us, which have slightly higher performance and memory than the 888 model, plus Bluetooth and cost only RM 999. I would say it is quite a good bargain, since there seems to be no other options for Pocket PC lesser than RM 1000 (unless ACER is a sucks brand, which I dunno at this moment). I can see the salesperson as someone who are very techie, give informative analysis on product comparison and speaks good English (hard to find one among computer salesperson). In fact, he even volunteered to load in a lot of goodies software as well (it took him about an hour to do so, must have loaded a lot of stuff; save us the trouble to search for good software as well, definitely a Value Added Service). I was really impressed with the guy; he really shines among the others by the magnitude of 10x or more. I got a feeling he is either the store manager or the owner of the shop. This is the kind of Super Star Player I would like to have in my future corporation.

The same day was my dance class as well. Khim join the usual gang for dinner this time, but I didn't join them as it is already 8.00 pm when I sent my sis to her car. I went to the class directly, where the gang is already there. Today is the first lesson for Cha Cha. Michelle (nowadays I like to call her Mic or Mickey; she also have a guinea pig named Mickey) and Mei Ru couldn't join us as they are rushing for a project demonstration (I was kinda their supervisor for this project, thus felt a bit guilty leaving them). I found that Cha Cha is more elegant compared to Jive, and involved more hip movement. I like it, as it kinda train me to have a better posture. I think almost everyone in the class already bought or have a pair of dancing shoes, except me. I don't quite know the exact location of the dancing shoe shop, and I am lazy as well (excuse). Probably next time I would need to buy 2 pair of shoes, dancing and working shoes (it started to wear out pretty fast lately). Looking forward to the next class.

Saturday Nite Fever!

It seems like I having a hard time remembering what is going on for the past few days, but here it goes. Sunday I went jogging with Mei Ru and Nicole, as part of our climbing Mt. KK training. Last week I was late, and this week Nicole is late because she expects me to be late. After one round of jog around the park, I don't I can run anymore for the rest of the day (more training needed). Since we are already fed up with Tim Sum at Sri Petaling, we visit the AliSon Food Stalls for breakfast instead.

The night before Tang, Michelle, Mei Ru and I have a movie night out to watch the Pacifier. The movie is so so, since it is Disney movie and are meant for kids anyway. We have dinner at Low Yat and we have a long chat that I don't even remembered what is it all about. After the dinner, Tang and I went to a pub in Sri Hartamas to join her friend Elva, which had just registered earlier that day. Wai Ling is there as well, and she was the one who ask me to join. At first it was quite boring upstairs, cause the pool tables are fully occupied and the dance floor is pathetic. Soon Tang and I found some entertainment downstairs while buying our drinks: Table Football. Though I am not a big fan, but that's the best we got. After 5 minutes, I am addicted to it and we had a really good time. I can see everyone laughing and blued to the game and behaving strangely, which is good. Good and funny strategy started to develop as well, especially for the guys. The girls are not bad as well. Today I found out Tang is not much of a pool person. We went off at 1 am and I sent Tang home. I reach home about 1.30 am. The next morning I went for the morning jog, this is killing me.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Super Boring Dinner

Two days ago was my company's financial year kick-off dinner. This time is a big event as two listed company merged (not official yet) with a total of 600 workforce, trying to be the biggest player in local market. They try to get people from different company to sit within the same table and mingle (for unity sake), but that didn't work very well (as expected).

I brought along my DV to capture some interesting moments, but I didn't get much shots as everyone of us have a wear the same blue denim. There isn't much variety, except trying to capture some pretty girls (some are camera shy and not very friendly towards the cameraman as well). We are encourage to decorate our denim shirt with add-ons, I manage to find a few creative design among my fellow colleagues, especially the girl with a teddy bear on her shoulder and some cartoon patches.

The night is pretty boring as usual, with food and beer, complements by lousy MC and super sucks magician entertainer (I think these guys are kiddy entertainer). There is one interesting drama where head of companies acted in, which is pretty funny and anonymously voted as the highlight of the night. The bosses are pretty sporting, and the drama manage to promote unity in a fun way. As usual I would leave earlier as I need to hitch a ride with Rocklon. Didn't manage to see who won the best dress contest, but I would guess the most popular one (people always win by popularity vote in these events, not by substance).

One thing good about the night is Kenny actually take the initiative to ask a girl for drinks after the dinner (her friend came along as well). Man of action finally, good for you.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Dancing couple?

Last Monday was my last Jive class, next week onwards is Cha Cha. Finally graduated! Tang brought Michelle and Mei Ru to preview the dance class, as they might be joining us next week for Cha Cha. Michelle actually likes dancing a lot, as she is currently learning belly dancing and line dancing.

There is this dancing couple in our class, Steven and Lily. I think they are dance partner for more then 3 years, and they dance very well together. Yi Man (still not sure this is her correct name) saw them have some argument and Lily left the class before it started. I think it is not easy to find a permanent-dancing partner. Does most dance partner end up as couple? Theoretically, this would be true because you would spend a lot of time together sharing and learning.

Seems like everyone had pick up a pair of dancing shoes. Probably I should too, but I don't know where is the shop is located. Probably I need to tag along with someone.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Do you believe in fate?

I have a cousin sister aged 38 and still single. She is pleasant looking, healthy figure and quite alright personality. The problem is her social circle is very small and her life revolves around her own family. She helps her sister-in-law take care of her five children and manages her brother's companies from home. Since her time is fully occupied with little or none social activities with outsiders, the chances of her finding Prince Charming seem slim.

Let's talk a bit about family history. My cousin sister's father has two good friends, where they always meet for breakfast in the local coffee shop. The bought a piece of lands together, each owning a few acres. 3 of them eventually passed away (all of them died within 1 year from each other, strange). One day, a businessman decides to buy that piece of land, so the 3 friends' children met at the lawyer's office. My cousin sister met one of the friends' sons, which was her childhood friend as well. He was 42 and still single, and they click instantly. Fate? Maybe. They are together for a few months now, and might be planning for marriage soon as age is catching up fast. Though I believe in fate, but I think it is better for them to understand each other for a while longer before jumping in marriage. Best wishes for both of them.

Slim chance doesn't means no chance. Though there are less options, but only one good option matters.

Why men attend dance class?

Naturally, more girls like dancing as compared to men. What motivate men to attend dance class? If you are single (like me), probably you would like to meet some girls there, or to learn dancing in order to dance with a girl, or just to find a hobby (why not sports?). If you were in a relationship (not married), you might join because your girl friend is in the dance class. It is quite possible you are dragged into the class because you girl friend need a dance partner and she likes you to join as well (good for the relationship anyway). That's the reason you see some guys who are not very enthusiast in the class. If your girl friend is very pretty or you feel rather insecure, you might join as well just to "protect" her from other predator (the single). These guys may not be very enthusiastic as well. Then you got the married man, who would not join a dance class because their wives are in it. They might join if they really like dancing.

No matter you join dancing for whatever reason, try to take it easy and you would like it eventually. How long you would like it is another matter :)

Monday, April 18, 2005

Casino Chip Infomation System (CIS)

A few month ago I have this brilliant idea of putting RFID into Casino chip for 3 purposes: i) Chip Authentication ii) Gambling Behavior Analysis iii) Possible Fraud Detection. Since my brother said he had some contact in the local casino, I decide to build a prototype and POC (Proof of Concept). I manage to get my hands on a RFID kit from a friend (save me a few thousand to purchase an entry-level kit) and manage to complete the prototype after few months of inconsistent part time effort. I shall record the POC using my DV to create a redistributable DEMO.

Houston, I've a few tiny problems. First, my bro somehow chicken out in introducing me to the casino guy (probably he feel embarrassed and uneasy about approaching someone for favor, as he is really an introvert in denial). Now I have no one to show the prototype to. My immediate action plan is to put the demo up on the Internet and hopefully some Casino guy would come across it (slim chance though). Next, I would need to seek out friends' help, hopefully their someone knows someone (maybe). Thirdly, I would need to make some brave attempt to knock on the local casino's door (the hardest: direct selling).

There are a few obvious challenges. Firstly, I am not a well-known established vendor; thus the Casino might doubt my capability in completing the project. Secondly, I do not have the resources to complete the entire project; thus I need funding or down payment from my potential customer. Thirdly, I need to find a visionary customer to believe and have faith in my offering. Probably I could have a Joint Venture with the Casino to come out with the product, or I could try to approach some Venture Cap.

I strongly believe the product is excellence, workable and valuable; now I just need to convince someone.

Arrogance Kills me Softly

Sometimes after we went through a lot of stuff, we feel that we had learned a lot and become a much better person compared to our peers. From here, the arrogance creeps in slowly, as we feel more superior and undermine others. The problem is only others will notice our arrogance, but we will not notice it. I think arrogance creeps in on me sometimes as well, cause I always think I am the best, if not one of the good one then.

A colleague of mine was separated from the main team for more than a year working on client site. I believed she did learn a lot from the project in term of technical and business knowledge. At the same time, I think she hold a grutch towards the main team for not backing her up when she was working on the client project (the project suck up too much resources with not finite schedule, and the management could not agree on deploying majority of the main team to help on the project). Practically, she was left there alone with a few rookies to fight. Ever since, she began to undermine the work done by the main team and question our effort. I believe she had formed her very own opinion on work and believe things are best done following her way without much tolerance. She believes in team participation in a project, but only in her very own way (sounds like a communist leader who believes she is pro-democracy). She became very picky as well on the projects she want to work on (self interest above self sacrifice perhaps?). Somehow, she had turn from a very friendly team player to a very difficult dictator.

It is good for someone to have their own opinion, but for a team to work we must be willing to compromise and tolerate as well. It is good to question and criticise, given that it is constructive and you are willing to listen as well. What's making me uncomfortable is her stubbornness added with arrogance, a very deadly combination. She is a good person, with good skill and good intention, but I believed she is temporary poisoned. I hope she can work out from this loop and became a much stronger team player and leader as well. Potential she has, but arrogance leads to the dark side.

PS: We like people who intelligently challenge us, as they intrigued us. At the same time, we weight more on character rather than skill. So, we need intelligent soul with good character who speak up.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance

So much to do; so little time. Besides my day job, I embarked on a lot of other project ventures that might or might not make money. The concept is you should work really hard and smart for a period of time and make something out of it, so you can enjoy life at a later stage (hopefully the duration isn't too long or too painful; or will it ever end?). Financial independence before retirement age, so to say.

Anyway, theoretically it would be super productive it we could work 24 hours, but our body won't allow that. Let’s say besides sleep and eat, we use the rest of the time to work. That wouldn't work either, because our mind won't allow it. Basically no matter how much work is there, we really can't work most of the time (at least not for long duration). We need to watch some TV, hang out with friends or just resting doing nothing, even though we have tons of work to do. Since we could not increase the duration we work, we could try to increase efficiency instead. Use a different method to churn out more output in the same timeframe, thus increasing productivity without increasing time. It is sometimes known as work smart.

There are a few principles that I follow, or at least try to:
  • Don't even try to work all the time. Only work when you have enough rest and energised. No point working if you productivity will be low.
  • Don't feel guilty for not working even though there are tons of works need to be done. You should feel guilty for not having enough rest and fun. Only a happy and satisfied person will have high productivity.
  • Break large task into smaller tasks and goals. They are more manageable and less stressful, with greater sense of achievement. Accomplish something small everyday. Sikit-skit, lama-lama jadi bukit (Malay Language: Small accumulation will become large eventually).
  • Try not to start too many things within the same timeframe (I am trapped with this as I couldn't resist or evaluate the opportunity properly). You productivity is limited so use them wisely.
  • Try to overcome procrastination. Dexirity Software have a pretty good article on this and related topics, such as How to get more done in less time, From Slump to Supercharged and. Pretty good read.
"Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance", wisdom by some great dude.

Jive is here to stay; at least a while longer

Yesterday was my fifth dance class, where I have one more lesson before Jive basic lesson is completed. I think I danced the most this time and I really enjoyed it. I never get tired repeating the same sequence, strange. My conclusion for today is I like dancing a lot and I do enjoy dancing with the tall girl from the other day (yet to get her name). I guess I shall continue with dancing for a while longer.

Just found out Man Yee's name is actually Yee Man or Yi Man or Li Man or izzit Mun. In fact, I never take initiative to know the name of others. My concept is if you don't talk often enough with them, you will forget their name anyway. If you talk often enough, you would eventually get their name :) The girls had bought their new dancing shoes, when should I go and get one.

Are you a Leech or Worthy Person?

You know when sometimes people ask your help in doing something, and you happily lend a helping hand not knowing the long term shit you shall land into? Sometimes when I offer my expertise to a helpless soul, they would start leeching my life away because I am their source of protein and they are too lazy to hunt by their own. First, they will ask me to help them with a small little task. After I had done it with flying colours, they would ask for a few more other things since I am so kind and good at the task. Then whenever they faced some problem, they would always expect me to help since I am Mr. Know It All. If my offered solution does not work, they will still come back to me and expect me to make it work. By now they would start asking help from someone else as well as I am trying to be less helpful, but they won't let me off the hook that easily. If you tell them off nicely, they will show a helpless look and tell others you don't want to help them. Hmm, whose fault is it that I landed in this mess? Me.

A wise man once said, "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime." or at least stop bothering me for 2 weeks. I always hold on this principal of teaching them to survive rather than handing them the food directly, but not everyone is willing to learn or have the patient listening to your tutoring. Should I find pleasure in helping people? Only if I can see them making an effort to learn rather than expecting spoon-feed. We need to help people worthy of our help. Thus, I won't be voted as Mr. Helpful for this year :)

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Date Doctor

Yesterday is movie night out with the girls again. Lorena had been extremely busy ever since she joined Citibank last year, and had not attend any of our social activities ever since. It seems like two new colleagues had joined her recently, so she is free for movie finally. We went for Hitch together with Tang and Wai Ling.

Hitch is really funnier than I thought it would be. I think it is one of the most laughable movies I went to. Will Smith (one of my favorite actor) really have a lot of charisma, and he is good at comedy as well (even MIB had a lot of comedy elements). Kevin James is very funny as well, playing his goofy and hypertension role. I am not very good at doing movie review, but Hitch is a good watch with lots of laughter and few tricks to be learned (cure for common man). Do you think it is possible to start a profession as a Date Doctor? I am sure it would be high in demand, and it would require a lot of confidence, some charisma, good understanding of women and some dating knowledge. Some fact from the movie: 90% of human communication are not done verbally. So, if you sucks at talking (no sweet talker), there is still hope.

After the movie, the girls try to catch up with Lorena (when the girls outnumbered the guys, I just sit in and listen). Lorena is a classy woman (even her name sounds classy), and she likes high-class food (her theory is not that she like expensive food, but all the good food turn out to be expensive). She can't take most of the tea and coffee because she might get migraine easily, so no Coffee Bean or Starbucks for her. I don't think she like to dine in food court or fast food as well, as she would try to suggest some other place or don't eat at all. She does not have any craving for chocolate or ice cream. She had plan for her vacations in the coming months to go to Pulau Perhentian, Paris and Guang Dong. One thing for sure, she sure can enjoy life well.

I have nothing against her, just that I think she is not my kind of girl (we are so much different in term of taste and money spending). I would say she is an expensive girl to have and difficult to satisfy (unless you are a rich dude). Ops! I hope I didn't badmouth her. I am not trying to, just trying to make a point that she is different and had formed a very strong opinion on what she wants and likes. A woman who knows herself well perhaps?

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Happy Jive Class

I think this is my happiest Jive class so far.

After work, Khim asked me and Tang to teach her last week's dance step as she didn't manage to attend it. We have some fun in the office and attract some colleagues' attention that might want to join. I went to have dinner with Tang and Man Yee as usual. Met Tang's little sister (Ah Bee), she somehow looks elder than Tang and I believe she is married as well. So, Tang's Aunt is younger than she is, and her little sister looks older than she does.

We are on time for the dance class, and Tang bought a pair of new dancing shoes (she seems determined in dancing). Actually, she was supposed to accompany Man Yee to buy the shoes, but end up she is the one buying while Man Yee didn't. Today we practice some old steps and learned a new sequence (involve some butt twisting). As the dance sequences got more complex, the more satisfying you are when you manage to complete them without making a mistake (even better if it is finished in a fast rhythm). Dancing (practicing) alone and together with a partner is a very different thing, and your partner's confidence and height have direct relationship with your satisfaction level. I dance with this girl who seems confidence and has the right height for me (I am quite tall for an Asian, 185cm, and it is not easy to find another tall girl), and I feel very happy and comfortable dancing with her. I am not very picky of my dance partner, so I enjoy dancing with everyone (just that you must have some basic confidence in dancing in order to enjoy it). Every couple is asked to perform in front of everyone as guts training and performance review, I think I did okay (no obvious mistake). I think there are two more Jive lesson before we move on to Cha Cha (hurray! I finally learned something artistic). Probably some of my colleagues might join us by then?

At the end of the lesson, two seniors (a couple) are supposed to start their class. The instructor asks them to demonstrate their Rumba dance, and their performance is very eye-catching and makes me envy them. It seems like as you get better at dancing, you would require a permanent dance partner to practice and synchronice your calligraphed dance. I shall take it easy at the moment, as seriousness takes all the fun away.

Bad Day after Bad Day

Few days ago I written about how I had an lousy day where the LRT halt its services and I have to go through a whole lot of trouble to get home (and it is raining as well and I had to walk very very far). Then, a lousy software indirectly cost me to loose my work and the article (another bad day). I am just not motivated to rewrite the article again, since I spent most of my anger power to criticise the software.

Kids, remember to always save your work! But we always human always fall prey to the evil computer and keep repeating the same mistake.

Lim Keng Yeik Rulez! (Hopefully)

I read an article from The Star's newspaper In-Tech technology supplement that Lim Keng Yeik (Minister of Energy, Water and Communications) vows to make broadband "fast and cheap", and I really pray he keeps his promise swiftly (not that I really have faith in it, but it is better than nothing). I won't say broadband is extremely expensive (though it is rumored Korea and maybe Singapore offered cheaper broadband) at the moment, but the main problem is broadband penetration rate, which is less than 1% in Malaysia.

The main broadband supplier in Malaysia in StreamyX by Telekom. Though their services faced many hiccups in the beginning, but I think it is getting much better at the moment (StreamyX probably have 100K subscribers or more). My area's phone services is provided by Maxis (usually Telekom dominate these phone services, except for a few special location for "false" competition fairness sake), thus I think that is why Telekom does not provide its broadband services here. I was so happy when Maxis announced its broadband services in my area, but I was immediately disappointed again when I was told the service is not available for my street. Argh! How big is Pusat Bandar Puchong man! I was told about 5 months ago that my street should be covered in 3 months time; I guess my street is too puny to be covered. The problem is most of the adjacent residential areas have broadband access by StreamyX, except my area because we are under Maxis (you are supposed to be better than Telekom!).

So, YB Dato Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yeik, I am counting on you! You too Maxis, don't sucks in your broadband offering (as payback for your withdrawal from the Internet dial-up market, which raise my dial-up cost from 1.5 cents per minute to 4 cents per minute and still enjoy lousy connection). Give me freedom and boardband!

Grave-Sweeping Day (清明节)

Last Saturday, my sis and I fly to Kota Bahru, Kelantan for Ching Ming 清明节 (Grave-Sweeping Day). My parent is already there as my dad work at Grand Riverview Hotel in the town center. We woke up at 5.45am (it is too early for anything to wake up) and take a taxi for the airport (we call for our usual taxi driver who stay nearby). The taxi driver is a very talkative guy, so he entertains us along the way. But I was too tired, so I took a long nap.

We fly with AirAsia to Kota Bahru from Kuala Lumpur (the flight cost RM 250 for two way). Dad pick us up and bring us to "White House" coffeehouse to have breakfast. This is a very famous coffeehouse run by an old man, which is famous for coffee, toast and half boil egg. The coffee is just okay, the egg is good and the toast is special. I think it is hand-made bread, felt a bit rough and suitable as toast. We stay at Grand Riverview Hotel, where I spent most of the time eating and sleeping, and watching some lousy TV channel (8TV is not available, argh!).

We woke up early the next morning to go to our grandparent's cemetery (it is the 1st time I went there after 26 years). The place is about 1-hour drive from Kota Bahru, and we shall meet up with our relatives from Kuala Krai there. The Chinese tombstone is quite large and occupies quite some space, and the cemetery area is huge. We perform the Ching Ming ceremony on grandpa's grave first, which include cutting the grass, put some small flags on the soil above the grave, put up some fruits and cakes, light some jostick and candles and burn some hell money. We perform some basic "prayer" and ask for our ancestors' blessing and protection. It took us about 30 minutes and we have a Nasi Kukus break. Then we continue with grandma's grave and drop by my aunt's grave before we leave the place. My grandpa died at 1975 while grandma passed away 4 years earlier (I was not born until 1979). I have seen their old photo in my relative's house in Kuala Krai about 10 years ago. I guess it is good to at least know where your ancestors are buried.

My uncle brought us to Tanah Merah (a small town) to have lunch. Among the dishes is a fresh water fish: Sun Hok (I don't know its English equivalents) which taste very good and extremely expensive as well (RM 135 for the fish). Other dishes such as spring chicken and bitter melon soup are equally good as well. After the lunch, our relatives drop by a fruit distribution center to pickup a few boxes of apple and orange. We bid farewell with each other and went back to Kota Bahru. We spent some time in the hotel again before we take our flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

There is an old Chinese saying "清明时节雨,纷纷路上行人,--欲断魂", roughly translated as it is raining during Ching Ming, and people feel sad along the road (as they visit the graves and missed their loves one). It does rain during grave sweeping, and it is the 1st time it happens according to my relative (usually it is extremely hot). So, maybe it is a sign from our ancestor regarding my sis and I’s first presence?

Friday, April 01, 2005

Annoying Software Program

I have been using AVG Antivirus for more than a year now. It is free and quite effective in doing its job. Recently I was forced to upgrade from Version 6 to Version 7. Though I think V7 is more powerful, but it does have a few annoying issues.

Below is some usability problem I experience with AVG7 default setting:

1. It had an E-mail Scanner, which constantly connect to your email server to scan emails for viruses. It is quite annoying to see a small popup at the right corner every 10 to 15 minutes. Especially when the network is down, the popup will stay there (won't go away!) until it can establish a network connection with the email server. When I turn off the E-mail Scanner totally, the AVG Icon on the System Tray will turn into Grey colour as if it is no longer active. Everything my computer startup, it would popup a balloon dialog to tell me my Email Scanner is not fully functional. Can you just leave me alone?

2. Today the worst thing happens. Somehow AVG automatically schedule some testing to run on 9:00 am while I am still using the computer. There is no indication of some king of scanning or testing is running, but I notice the computer is slower. I popup the Windows Task Manager and see that avgw.exe is the culprit (looking at the AVG Scheduler double confirm that). The Bugger is using almost 100% of the processing power to do some sort of scanning (which I didn't approve of) while I am doing my work, how stupid can you be? Worst still, it lasted for hours and made of my application hang (because most of the processing power are hogged by AVG), and I totally lost a blog I was writing. ARGHHH! Then I decide to shutdown the AVG Application, but the stupid scanning process still keep on running. You left me no choice but to restart my machine. I set the scheduler to execute at midnight where the machine is sure to be off (I am not allowed to delete the scheduler task!).

AVG6 used to be less intrusive, but AVG7 sure have some fatal usability issues since it annoyed me so much. I shouldn't complaint so much since the program is free, but it is pathetic if your upgrade is worst than your predecessor. AVG7's performance and effectiveness is good, but usability is equally important for a successful marketable product as well.