Archive for the ‘Howtos’ Category
Sunday, September 5th, 2021
Tech-U-Can-Use (TUCU): The Philips Hue Bridge (S$89) is the starting point for anyone thinking of building a smart lighting system for their homes. It is the hub that connects and controls smart lights and accessories from the Philips Hue family of smart lighting products.
The Philips Hue Bridge is the HEART of the Philips Hue home smart lighting.
Since we’re all spending so much time #WorkingFromHome and doing #HomeBasedLearning – thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to turn as much of my dwelling into a smart home.
ZigBee technology
Philips Hue is based on ZigBee, a low-power and reliable technology to control your lights.
Zigbee is a worldwide standard for low power, self-healing, mesh networks offering a complete and interoperable IoT solution for home and building automation.
Zigbee networks can support hundreds of nodes, and have enhanced security features.
There are already Google Home wireless speakers around the home, so the next step is to introduce some nice lighting to enhance the ambience for both work and play.
One of the easiest ways to fix up smart lighting in the home is the Philips Hue bulbs and lights from Signify (foremely Philips Lighting).
The Philips Hue Bridge is the hub to which all the Philips Hue smart lights are connected and through which the Philips Hue App controls those lights.
Philips Hue Bridge – freshly unboxed. Excited to take the first step in setting up a smart lighting system at home.
The Hue Bridge is a compact little box that measures 90.9 x 90.6 x 26 mm and weighs 280g.
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Tags:bridge, hub, Hue, IoT, lifestyle, lighting, networking, Philips, Signify, smart home
Posted in Accessories, audioVisual, Decor, Gadgets, gadgets, Home, Howtos, Internet of Things, IoT, Lifestyle, Network, Philips, reviews, Router, Signify, Utility | 2 Comments »
Friday, March 19th, 2021
Today is World Sleep Day, so here are five tips on how to get a better night’s sleep from sleep expert Fitbit.
Sleep like a baby with 5 sleep tips from Fitbit. Photo by Tara Raye on Unsplash.
Getting our eight hours of quality sleep every night is important as adequate sleep and regular sleep patterns help rejuvenate our mood regulation, cognitive function, and overall health.
According to Fitbit’s data in 2020, Singaporeans were sleeping more last year.
However, Singaporeans still had one of the lowest sleep durations in the region, indicating there is still room for us to improve our quality of sleep.
So here are five tips for ways you can sleep longer and get a better quality shut eye.
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Tags:Fitbit, howto, sleep, tips
Posted in Fitbit, Healthcare, Howtos, Lifestyle, Lists, Medical, Tips | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 30th, 2020
With the COVID-19 pandemic, much of the school’s curriculum has been migrated to online learning from home. With the threats out there in the World Wide Web, how can concerned parents better safeguard their children from online predators? Here are some tips.
My kids have never used the computer and the Internet so much before the pandemic set in at the beginning of the year.
It started with a bang when school was closed to students during the nationwide lockdown, and students had to do ALL their lessons online, using online video conferencing tools such as Zoom and Google Meet.
Parents had to scramble to help their children be ready for #HomeBasedLearning – the new buzzword for families with school-going kids.
From buying laptops, to setting them up, to teaching the kids how to use the video conferencing software.
There was hardly any time and energy left to figure out how to secure the laptop and online learning sessions from Internet predators.
So parents – below are some areas to watch out for when preparing your child for #HomeBasedLearning.
- Dubious websites and content
- Dubious “Friends” in chat rooms and social media
- Cyberbullying
- Scams
Dubious websites and content
The World Wide Web is full of interesting stuff, much of it inappropriate for children e.g. pornography, racism, hate and violence.
So keep a close eye on what your kids are surfing – check their search/browser histories and designate an open location in the home for the kids to use the computer, so that everybody can help keep an eye out.
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Tags:cybersecurity, HBL, howtos, Internet, Norton, safety, security, tips, WWW
Posted in Featured, Home, Howtos, Internet, Norton, Opinion, Security, Tips | 2 Comments »
Sunday, September 20th, 2020
With employees working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, how can SMBs better protect against cybercriminals?
Kaspersky experts suggest the following tips for SMBs to avoid being lured by cybercriminals through phishing, crypto-mining and ransomware.
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Tags:cryptojacking, cryptomining, cybersecurity, howtos, Kaspersky, opinion, phishing, ransomware, security, Singapore, tips
Posted in Brief, Business IT, events, Howtos, Online, Opinion, Security | No Comments »
Saturday, July 21st, 2018
Here are some handy food photography tips from Jonathan Berriman.
We’ve all had that millennial moment where we are served a delicious looking dish and immediately stand up to take a photo. Sometimes it just looks too good not to. Food photographers are some of the most followed influencers on Instagram and for good reason: people love food. We love eating food, we love making food, and we love looking at food.
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Tags:Food, hi-lite, howtos, photography, tips
Posted in Featured, Howtos, Opinion, Photography | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 18th, 2016
More details have been released by Samsung for Galaxy Note7 users in Singapore, covering the refund value for the Note7, trade-in prices to the S7 Edge, as well as refund for original Note7 accessories. This is in addition to earlier information Samsung Singapore had released earlier.
All Galaxy Note7 customers are required to back up their data using Samsung Smart Switch (http://www.samsung.com/sg/support/smartswitch/), delete any data or other personal material stored in the device, and reset their device ahead of the home delivery.
Galaxy Note7 customers who opt to exchange their device for a Galaxy S7 edge, valued at S$1,098, will receive an additional S$250 in cheque.
Those who opt for a refund will receive the full retail value of the Galaxy Note7 at S$1,168 in cheque.
Both options are available to all Galaxy Note7 customers, regardless if they purchased their original device from telecommunication operators, consumer electronics stores, authorised retailers, Samsung Official Store at Lazada.sg or Samsung Experience Stores.
The options also do not affect any pre-existing contract that the Galaxy Note7 owner has with the telecommunication operators.
Details below.
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Tags:accessories, Exchange, Galaxy, Note7, refund, return, s7 edge, Samsung, Singapore, trade-in
Posted in Accessories, Announce, Gadgets, gadgets, GALAXY, Howtos, News, Note, Phones, Press Release, Prices, Samsung, smartphones | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
Disruption enables enterprises to cut costs involved in technologies whilst reducing the inefficiencies. Alan Lim shares how IBM Blockchain Labs can help you apply blockchain technology to make more efficient an application that is core to your business.
If your business is based on a network of partners, dealers, suppliers and customers; and if your success is based on a system that can be disrupted; AND if you want to become the next disruptor, you should take a serious look at Blockchain technology.
Enterprises can now leverage on the structured approach for an application or a system based on Blockchain tenets.
Blockchain technology is suitable for any enterprise that involves multi-party, multi-layered transactions.
“Blockchain is the next stage of digitisation,” said Raymond Wong – Country Manager, Software, IBM Singapore – during his welcome address for IBM’s one-day thought leadership conference (“Technology Leadership in the Cognitive Era”) in Singapore.
Blockchain entails the principle of a shared ledger with shared data, leading to visibility of not only the entire history of transactions, but also the customer’s relationship data.
Alan Lim noted that some US$1 billion has been spent on Blockchain technology, and that the investment is moving away from BitCoin specific to the underlying Blockchain technology.
Lim is a Lead Software Architect with IBM Software.
Enterprises do not work in silos, instead they thrive in business networks, generating wealth in the marketplace through the transference of goods and services.
The key then is how to engineer trust among the various parties, especially when it is a challenge to monitor asset ownership and transfers/transactions.
Blockchain technology is based on a concept of a decentralised consensus network, introducing replicated, shared, permissioned ledgers for transparency, whilst privacy is maintained by ensuring that relevant parties can only see what they need.
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Tags:Blockchain, disruptive, IBM, IBM Garage, IBM SolutionsConnect 2016, Singapore, SolutionsConnect, technology
Posted in Blockchain, Business IT, Enterprise IT, Events, events, Howtos, IBM, Opinion, Reference, Seminars, Software, Technology, Wiki | No Comments »
Thursday, May 26th, 2016
Jimmy Fitzgerald – Vice President of Asia Pacific & Japan at ServiceNow – shares six ways to help your employees work smarter, not harder. This guest blog was contributed by Fitzgerald.
Jimmy Fitzgerald’s team at ServiceNow helps customers to eliminate reliance on email, spreadsheets and other manual processes so their employees can work smarter, not harder.
In recent years, online retail platforms such as Zalora have truly streamlined their processes of browsing, checkout and payment, wooing shoppers with their speed, efficiency and superior user experience.
Consumers in Singapore now hold speedy deliveries and seamless experiences as the standard when they shop online.
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Tags:byline, guest blog, Jimmy Fitzgerald, opinion, ServiceNow
Posted in Business IT, Enterprise IT, Howtos, Interview, Opinion, Reference, Tips | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2015
Here’s Part 3 of the three-part series on tips for shooting fireworks photos – on what kind of lens to use and getting creative with composition. Contributed by Canon Imaging Academy.
Use a wide angle lens to capture the entire fireworks scene. Photo credit: Canon Imaging Academy Associate Trainer Joseph Goh, Joseph Goh Photography.
Below is the final of the three-part series on tips for shooting dazzling photos of fireworks.
Editor’s note
Since the fireworks for the National Day celebrations are on such a big scale, it essentially covers a large amount of sky over the Marina Bay.
In order to capture all the different types of fireworks firing at the same time, and to avoid cropping part of a firework burst, use a wide angle camera that have a large field of view.
If you are using a zoom lens, zoom out to the widest angle.
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Tags:cameras, Canon, Canon Imaging Academy, Fireworks, howto, jubilee, National Day Parade, NDP, photography, SG50, tips
Posted in Canon, Howtos, Photography, Photos, POTD, Reference, Tips | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2015
Here’s Part 2 of the three-part series on tips for shooting fireworks photos – on what settings to use in your camera. Contributed by Canon Imaging Academy.
Ever wondered what camera settings to use for shooting fireworks? Check out the recommendations from the Canon Imaging Academy. Photo credit: Canon Imaging Academy.
Here are some settings that are optimal for shooting fireworks.
Editor’s note
Many cameras, including compact ones have a dedicated Scene mode for shooting fireworks where many of the camera settings highlighted below are automatically set to appropriate levels generally suitable for fireworks.
However, because the settings are pre-canned and generally shooting most fireworks, you can’t change the settings to custom-fit the exact lighting situations or to realise your specific artistic expression.
If you want the best shots, try out the settings suggested below by the Canon Imaging Academy.
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Tags:cameras, Canon, Canon Imaging Academy, Fireworks, howto, jubilee, National Day Parade, NDP, photography, SG50, tips
Posted in Cameras, Canon, Compact camera, DSLR, Gadgets, Howtos, MIL, Opinion, Photography, Photos, POTD, Reference, Tips | No Comments »
