Review: Windows 8

Biggest hoopla in my bedroom 2 nights ago, can be summed up in 1 word + 1 number: Windows 8.

I don’t really know if everyone anxiously await for it’s arrival, but I was. And I’ve seen the video review over youtube which shows less than stellar & optimistic coverage, which makes me even more giddy when an email from microsoft arrived on my mailbox telling me that the update is ready to be downloaded.

So after the upgrade I gave my laptop a try and here I shall give you a review of an orang awam teknologi yang sehari-hari berkerja sebagai Commercial Logistic Analyst (saya sendiri).

Minimum laptop specification needed to upgrade to Windows 8: A processor with processor speed of 1GHz or more; at least 2GB of RAM for 64-bit systems (or 1GB for 32-bit), 20GB of hard drive space (16GB for 32-bit), and DirectX 9-capable graphics.

And big news: you dont need to have a touch screen laptop to work/play with windows 8. I am using fully keyboard and mouse, should you want to know.

Upgrade cost: USD 39.00 (a special price which valid only until 31st January 2013) or USD 15.00 if you have a promotion code (dan gue pakainya opsi ini, YAY!).

The upgrade itself will take you +/- 5 hours to complete, and the system will foremost ask for your hotmail/msn account. Should you have not any of them, you can register during this process too, no hassle.

After login/sign-up of hotmail/msn account, the photo below is how your desktop will probably looked like. Looking pretty much like a windows phone with interactive live tiles. Operating system is looking slick and awesomely futuristic too.

If you scroll your mouse cursor to the left corner, there will pop up the seeting option, this is also where you will turn your laptop shut/off here from.

The next step you might want to do is to linked most of your social media and email accounts to your laptop. At this point you can sync it with: facebook, twitter, gmail, linkedin, microsoft outlook (should your office use this email service), and lain-lain.

This ease android users of course who stored most of their contact data on their gmail contact book. This function will enable us to have all of our contacts from various sources to be compiled into one mega phone/contacts book.

There are loads of new feature on Windows 8, and one of my favorite windows 8 feature is BING travel with it’s beautiful travel photos (ada Indonesia juga).

And for the old school souls, fear not, you can easily switch from live tiles user interface to classic desktop interface in an easy step, just a click away everybody.

Windows 8, enable you to also download applications from their applications store, simply called “STORE”, just like how you’d buy applications for your iPhone or Android smartphones/tablets. Although there are not much of available apps now, but I think we will see more of them in future as time progress.

This is tampilan salah satu twitter apps (tweetro) kalau membuka profile twitter orang. Loving how slick it looked like. Very neat though not exactly ergonomic.

So far the cons to Windows 8 that I can come up are:

• The applications store could use more apps.
• I got a bit light headed when I change the screen to much from one windows to another.

I have not yet able to come up with other cons yet for Windows 8. It’s sleek, it’s fun to use, easy to navigate (even without touch screen) and I have to say, load faster just like Apple’s Mac would. Should you upgrade your laptop/desktop to Windows 8? If you like beautiful presentation and in need to see something different other than microsoft 7 and Mac’s OS, then Windows 8 is your dude.

You can download the upgrade here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ID/windows/buy?ocid=GA8_O_WOL_DIS_ShopHP_FPP_Light

Score: 4 out of 4

Review: Florence + the Machine - MTV Unplugged

And when everybody thinks MTV has run out of any artist to render into an unplugged performance, this album came to surface.

Back in the days (and still now) we love MTV Unplugged for its subdued, stripped back and simple rendition of our favorite artist. Nirvana, George Michael, Radiohead and Annie Lennox are few artists who has released their MTV Unplugged album and able to cease me in awe with their unplugged album.

Often people said, a true artisan capability can be seen by him/her performing live in a quiet environment which what the concept of unplugged is all about. Now, Florence + the Machine giving unplugged record a shot, how did they fare on it? Read on.

We all know this band for its grandeur, rich & majestic sounds and Florence Welch’s voice is what I would call a raw-rough powerhouse. But I also have to say that, sometimes a grandeur and majestic sound does not collaborate well with subdued & simple ones.

The whole album in overall sounded like a tiring endless journey where I often feel the need to click the fast forward button of the CD remote, it was that painful. In most numbers, it feels as if Florence tried to show off her capability and give us generous amount of her stretched out vibrating vocal up to a point where I want to tell her to cut it out and just shut the fudge up.

I know Florence is an artisan who probably want her voice to sound as organically as raw as possible, but I wished she had hire a vocal couch prior making this record.

However, some tracks do shines with glimmer of hopes, such are: If Only for a Night, Shake it Out and Dog Days are Over. She managed to belt a powerful vocal and put a slightly different spin on her mainstream famous tracks.

I’m a fan of Florence + the Machine, I would recommend her 1^st and 2^nd album for you guys to hear, but this album, I have to say, is made for those whose ears has the strength of steel. I won’t say the band is a lousy musical group, but Florence+ the Machine will sounds better with glamorous heavy ornament and I shall wait for that day to come.

Score: 1 out of 4

Review: Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

This is an old article of mine, originally written in 9th September 2008

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I have said it once and I will say it again, Jens Lekman is a true pop music genius and his last album “Night Falls over Kortedala” proven just that.

In this album, consisting recording collection ranging from 2004 - 2007, Lekman has shown a remarkable talent mixing and made fusion of many musical elements into each track from acoustics, electric, strings, and opera.

The same can be same for Lekman’s lyrics as well, witty, funny, sarcastic and sometimes sounded bitchy-funny like your drag queen hairdresser. From story of getting your finger cut while slicing avocado (Your Arm’s Around Me), pretending to be a boyfriend for a lesbian (Letter to Nina), heavenly touches from an immigrant hairdresser (Shirin), of an unforgettable first kiss (And I Remember Every Kiss), and of regretting a first kiss (Sipping on the Sweet Nectar). All are beautifully serenaded and told by Lekman, sounding like a romantic bard who is very much in love with his music.

As for what made the arrangements beautiful are such like the first track of the album “And I Remember Every Kiss” is my favorite grandeur opening, filled with majestic strings, and opera nuances. Followed with a retro candy pop “Sipping on the Sweet Nectar”. Not to be missed also beautiful strums of what I think is harp, strings of violin and viola in “Your Arms Around Me” and mixes of acoustic, harp (again) and light touches of electronic mixes just to name a few.

Jens Lekman has truly shown that he is a brilliant artist, a craftsman, a witty poet abundant with talent. My audio experience listening to this album akin to the warm pleasant sensation of a hot cup of toffee nut latte on a cold windy afternoon, it will leave you with a good feeling for many days afterward, and so much more than you can bargain for.

Score: 4 out of 4

Review: KEANE - Strangeland

The long anticipated (by me at least) album of KEANE called “Strangeland” has finally arrive in the nearest records store. Despite some aspects that hinder me from loving this album, it’s good to know that KEANE has decided to withdraw from their Perfect Symmetry and Night Train approach and went back to the sounds of Hopes & Fears and Under the Iron Sea.

I know not whether I love to inflict emotional pain to myself or anything, but I have to admit I do enjoy KEANE dark, brooding, suicidal nuances on their second album. And I completely miss it on their third album and Night Train EP where they begin to experiment just like U2 was on Discotheque.

My initial reaction upon the first 5 initial tracks was jubilation, Oxley’s magical touches on his keyboards and Chaplin’s majestic soaring vocal blew me off my seat. This is how KEANE supposed to sound, this exactly what I’ve been longing to hear from the band. The track was followed by Silenced by the Night and Disconnected, awesome tracks, very KEANE with their trademark rich piano driven tunes.

Unfortunately the good thing (or tracks) has come to (some sort) of an end, and the CD came to a song called On the Road where I completely cannot wait for the song to end, it was just that bad with Chaplin’s voice seems to sink in the cheap jumpy energetic tunes of the song.  Neon River sounded promising at first, catchy and rich tunes but somehow falls on the boring side of the lane for me, fortunately the CD has In Your Own Time to save me from drowning in boredom.

Closure of the CD is a track called Sea Fog captures the band mellow nuances that reminds me of Hamburg Song on their second album. I’m a big fan of mellow dark song, but the track just can’t have me up to the point where I’d choked up in tears and in overall, the album did not give me a closure where I sighed in a satisfactory state.

I hate to be the one who say this, but this album made me wonder if the band has to get into a heated argument, drugs problem and increasing sentimentality between each member just so they can come up with another album which as good as their 2^nd album. God forbid, I hope it’s not the case although I do miss the bone chilling, emotion and tear jerker sounds of Under the Iron Sea.

To close this essay, I will say that I am happy to know that KEANE has gone back to where they’re good musically with Oxley, Chaplin & Hughes (with new member Quinn) lashing out their capability as artist. This may not be their best album yet (for me) and fell a bit on the flat side, but it does have thousand glimmers of hope in each tunes. I will say that Strangeland provides an audio challenge for those who hear it, the kind where you have to listen to it several times before you can embrace and grow a liking.

I have always been a big fan of KEANE, and this album has given me something to believe that this band is worth not just a listen, but many more of listens. Definitely, KEANE is a band I will look upon to hear and see evolved in years ahead to come.

Score: 2 out of 4

Raindrops over the gloomy Jakarta sky