Best of Online Maps Covering Kuala Lumpur

I've been using online maps for quite a while and I've noticed that the map coverage for Malaysia has improved over the years but freely-available geocoding services covering Malaysian city streets are still sorely lacking.

Multimap

However, one mapping service comes close.  It's Multimap (now a wholly-owned Microsoft subsidiary).  While street-level geocoding support for KL is not quite there yet, there's postcode geocoding.  The street map quality is much more detailed than the one in Google Maps, MapQuest or Microsoft Virtual Earth.

In Multimap, you can view the lot number of homes/buildings and names of street landmarks.  However, Multimap's aerial/satellite view (which leverages on Microsoft Virtual Earth) is not the best for Malaysia.  In that respect, Google Maps offers much higher-resolution visuals.

StreetDirectory.net.my

Another cool street mapping service for KL is found on streetdirectory.net.my.  You can enter street names or even building names.  It even lists how far away a location is from nearby landmarks such as banks, restaurants, monorail stations and even pubs!

Google Earth and Google Maps

For virtual 3D visualization of KL, there is Google Earth (essentially 2D Google Maps mapped on a 3D terrain). With Google Earth 4.3, you can view photo-realistic buildings for several cities around the world. As for KL, you'll only find the Petronas Twin Towers in 3D though.

One thing to note is that the satellite images in Google Maps (hence Google Earth) for most parts of KL are not very recent. Most of the image tiles date back to 2005.  However, Putrajaya has more recent visuals (May 2007).

I'm looking forward to the day when we can enter a Malaysian street address in Google Maps or Google Earth and the specific location is returned.  At the moment Google Maps supplements the search results with community-tagged locations. Quite often, there's too much redundancy in community-based results and it only adds to lots of noise.

So while we wait for real geocoding service from Google on Malaysia, we'll make do with the services mentioned above.

Technorati tags: google maps, mapquest, multimap, microsoft virtual earth, geocoding, kuala lumpur

Christmas in the Mall

Christmas 2005 at Mid Valley Megamall Kuala Lumpur. Simply stunning!

Bird's eye view of CMMI

It's the monthly MIND gathering again and this time the topic of highlight was CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration). It's time well-spent as the speaker gave a gripping two-hour presentation.

When it is time to don the presenter's hat, ...

One video clip interests me during my regular visit to Channel 9. Don Box, well known (or notorious) for his highly-rated presentations reveals his presentation secrets. It's quite obvious he's not a big fan of Powerpoint. ;-) Anyway, here are some of his pointers for an attention-grabbing techie presentation:

• Focus on the goal of giving a talk e.g. changing the thought-process of the listener.
• Do something that gets and holds the listeners' attention. Whether you give a talk from a bathtub or have a flamenco band to harmonize with you, find a style that works for you.
• Less is more. Use the minimum amount of code to convey an idea e.g. Use Hello World type examples. More people will have a chance of relating to it. Likewise, speaking less gives more too as listening is a taxing task.
• Don't confuse concepts and facts. Facts shouldn't show up in a talk. In a talk, facts blur the truth. Feed concepts to your audience.
• Use legible font. On Windows, use at least 14-point font.
• Default highlighting in Visual Studio is not suitable for presentation. Change highlighting color to something contrasting on projection.
• Take advantage of modulation. Modulation controls attention. Modulate the speed of talk. To emphasize a point, speak slower. Also, modulate pitch and intensity. e.g. for contrast, switch to speaking quietly.
• If things go wrong, like failed demos, use the situation as some pedagogical device and use it to your advantage.
• Don't cramp till 4am in the morning preparing for a talk. Better be restful and alert for a talk.
• Powerpoint is a means to an end, not an end to itself. Meaning: Powerpoint is an aid, not the talk.

Back to blogging!

It's been a while since I last blogged (November 2003 to be exact). I intend to retrace some of the past interesting events and blog them here by backdating the posts. Why return to blogging? I don't know. Maybe blogging is becoming a cultural thing.

"Blog was the most common word visitors to Merriam Webster's online site sought a definition for throughout 2004."

Even Microsoft has entered the blogging arena through MSN Spaces (http://spaces.msn.com). Here's my blog space at MSN Spaces: http://spaces.msn.com/members/jasonong/. I think I still like it here at Blogger -- the large fonts seem easier on the eyes. Maybe age is catching up :-P

Nite out at KL's newest music cafe

I was at the opening party of my friend's new cafe, namely Wings Musicafe at Times Walk KL (behind Berjaya Times Square). The outlet occupies two floors and features live unplugged performance -- playing mainly Chinese repertoire.

Applying for MyKad

After much procastination, I finally applied for MyKad (the new Malaysian national registration identification card) at the JPN office at Maju Junction Mall. I thought the whole affair was going to be painful but surprisingly it was over in 2 hours -- mostly waiting time. Applying was simple in that only the current IC is required. There was no forms to fill though there was the change-address form which wasn't applicable to me anyway.

The food-court at Maju Junction Mall is equipped with screens displaying queue numbers and therefore there was no need to wait in front of the JPN counters. So, that was nice. The officer told me that the card will be ready for collection in one month's time. The application status can be checked at JPN's web site.

One year wiser

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me... :-)

Fitness comes first

Joined the local gym...now to bulk up. :-)

New at Blogger

Finally jumped on the blogging bandwagon...