M1 broadband and blur images

Previously I wondered: Is M1 broadband injecting Javascript into my web pages? After making two unfruitful calls and then an email to M1, I’ve finally gotten an answer:

Yes, M1 broadband is indeed responsible for the blur images that I have been seeing while surfing the net.

In the M1 Customer Relations email reply to me, they are “currently implementing some optimization to improve the user’s experience while surfing“. The “solution” provided in the same email is: “To view the graphics at its optimal quality, you may like to move the mouse cursor over the picture, the blurred image will auto-refresh to the original image in about two seconds“. There was no mention of the time frame on when the problem will be totally resolved.

Oh, such an inconvenience! Before that, while waiting for the web pages to load via M1 broadband, I could have gone make myself a cup of coffee and come back to see the web page just finished loading. If I’m surfing at night, the page loading time is even enough for me to make a sandwich as well (yes, plus the coffee). But now I can’t even walk away from my computer because I need to mouse-over each and every image?

Personally, I find M1 broadband a disappointment on the following counts:

• This is clearly a case of insufficient testing before rolling out the system to customers. If M1 had thoroughly tested this system, it would have been aware of this image-blurring problem, instead of having to be informed of it by its customers. Are its customers being treated like guinea pigs? On the other hand, if M1 was already aware of such potential problem, then why didn’t it warn its customers beforehand?

• If I may borrow the same two adjectives spoken in parliament few days ago, I would describe the suggested work-around solution as silly and incredible. “Mousing over each image and then wait for two seconds before the image can be shown in its original quality” is hardly something that should come out from a reputable ISP.

• In the course of implementing such a system, M1 broadband took the liberty of injecting Javascript into all the web pages served out to its customers. This is totally intrusive! Furthermore, that chunk of injected Javascript is naively implemented and breaks some of the web pages that I browse.

Dear M1, if you may remember, I blogged about the praises I have for your broadband service when I first signed up for it in October 2007. Sadly, over the past six months the speed of your broadband service has deteriorated significantly. And now you’re serving out low-quality images in order to reduce the load on your network traffic?

Update (30 Apr 2008): The problem of blur images still persisted. Called up M1 again today to demand an answer on when they can resolve this problem once and for all. Just like the previous times, the answer was that they do not know how long it will take.

Is M1 broadband injecting Javascript into my web pages?

Recently on all the web pages that I surf on my PC, I have been seeing blurred images instead of the normally clear ones. I almost went to have my eyes checked, but turns out that it was due to a mysterious chunk of Javascript has been injected at the bottom of every web page that I visit. It’s frustrating because not only the images are blurred, some of the web pages are even broken and inaccessible due to the injected Javascript.

Well, how blur is blur? The first image is the original clear image:

and the following image is the one dished out by M1 and what I saw on my browser:

[ Start of technical paragraph. Feel free to skip this paragraph if it makes you giddy ]
When I view the source of the HTMLs, I notice a chunk of Javascript being injected at the bottom of every web page that I visit. This injected Javascript is extremely intrusive because it replaces all the images on web pages with compressed version of the images (for techies who are interested, I’ve listed this Javascript in its entirety at the bottom of this post). I did a further check at the University of Washington Web Integrity Checker and confirmed that the web pages has indeed been modified in transit after leaving the server and while on the way to my computer.

The question is: who is sneakily injecting Javascript into my web pages to replace all the images with the compressed and blurred versions?

My first suspect is naturally my ISP, M1 Broadband. As a simple test, I disconnected my notebook from M1 and connected to Wireless@SG instead. The problem disappeared! The images shown on web pages are the clear ones! I then connected my notebook back to M1 broadband, and the images are blurred again.

So on two occasions within 22 and 23 April 2008, I called up M1 Broadband technical support to inquire if they are purposely compressing all the images at their gateway. On both occasions, the technical support guy’s answer is a firm “No”, regardless of how hard I tried to reason with them. Sensing that these guys might be unaware of this issue themselves, I thanked them and hung up. Just before writing this blog entry, I sent an email to M1 to relate my problem again. Hopefully I can receive a better written reply from there.

If you’re using M1 Broadband and have been facing the same problem too for the past week or so, do leave a comment here. Thanks!

Mas Selamat escaped without his pants on

Reuters UK couldn’t have chosen a more innovative title for their news article: Singapore says militant escaped without trousers. It’s also amusing to see the piece of news filed under “Oddly Enough” category.

Shucks, if only Singaporeans had known this piece of information upfront! It would have been so much easier to spot someone without trousers than someone with a limp. I mean, in Singaporeans’ vigilant efforts to spot that limping leg, we could have easily missed that person who walked past us without his trousers on right? Aiyah, so wasted.

Even my good friend Wilfrid has decided to flaunt his scriptwriting skills with a hilarious movie script here: Where In The World Is Mas Selamat?

Of course, it’s not just fun and games. Corrective actions must be taken. For starters, they should fix the two non-working CCTVs. How about considering mr brown’s suggestions on installing imitation CCTVs? Yes, I would say let’s go for the ones with wires and blinking LEDs as they look more real.

Also, from Mr. Wong Kan Seng’s ministerial statement (para 64), he has already instructed Directory ISD to take the corrective actions. I quote: “For example, the toilet window has been sealed”. It is my sincere hope that it was either a grammatical error or the Whitley Road Detention Centre has only ONE toilet window in the entire compound.

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ICQ

Blink, and 7 years have passed. ICQ was the first instant messaging (IM) software I used way back in year 2001. It was also the one where I had the most memorable chats with colleagues at Hill Street and Ann Siang Hill.

My ICQ number remains as 66071343. Friends, hope you have been well.

Flock browser

If you love the Firefox web browser, chances are you will love the Flock browser too. Branded as “The Social Web Browser”, Flock is powered by the same Mozilla engine.

I consider Flock as a one-stop web browser having built-in features that offers a great deal of conveniences. Instead of you visiting multiple websites to check for updates, the Flock browser aggregates all these info for you. For instance, Flock alerts you whenever a new email is received at your Gmail account or whenever your friends update their Facebook profiles.

Some of the features that are built right into Flock:

• Gmail - Get notified via a highlighted icon whenever you receive any new emails.
• Facebook - View the latest friends updates and their photos. You can update your Facebook status from Flock as well.
• Flickr / Picasa / Photobucket - Upload and manage your photo collections.
• del.icio.us - When you bookmark a web page, Flock offers you the option of bookmarking it in your del.icio.us account as well.
• Twitter - View the latest friends updates. Update your Twitter status from Flock as well.
• Blog - Draft and publish your blog entries from Flock.
• RSS - Built-in RSS reader. Get notified via a highlighted icon of new updates to your subscribed feeds.

As you may have noticed at the bottom right of this post, I published this blog entry using Flock.

Highly recommended! Try it out at: http://www.flock.com

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Is streetdirectory.com being taken down?

It could be due to my intermittent M1 broadband, but I’ve been unable to access www.streetdirectory.com since yesterday afternoon. I wonder if this outage is related to the recent court case where the website owner Virtual Map Pte Ltd was being sued for infringing on Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA) copyright? Virtual Map went on to lose the case and the subsequent appeal. Could Virtual Map be taking down www.streetdirectory.com?

If you’re one of those who can’t get by a day without streetdirectory.com, there’s a lesser-known guide provided by SLA at: http://www.map.gov.sg/StreetMap . It’s a scaled-down version without driving directions and other frills.

For those who are interested in courtroom drama, here is the entire transcript of the court session where Virtual Map Pte Ltd lost their appeal against the verdict:
http://lwb.lawnet.com.sg/legal/lgl/rss/supremecourt/56399.html

Update (3 Apr 2008): It’s confirmed that Virtual Map has brought the site down and “hopes to bring the site back up shortly, with new maps that the company has been working on” (see Channel NewsAsia report: Popular online map website down for days after losing appeal).

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Night

Night. What’s the purpose if it’s same as day?

Night. Better not have it as it merely reminds of the things that are missing here.

耶和华以勒 Yahweh Yireh

A truly wonderful music video recommended to me by dear Daniel Ho. “Sacrifice” by Bob Fitts. Thanks, Daniel!

Ever wondered how Abraham felt as he journeyed up the mountains to sacrifice Isaac? In parallel, the heart of the Father as He sacrificed His one and only Son. A timely reflection for us in this season of Lent.

YouTube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEBmuQxXlHU

Mas in disguise

In their greatest contribution to national security to date, Talkingcock.com has come up with a poster of the possible disguises that Mas Selamat Kastari can put on.

After all, it’s been a week since he has escaped. Isn’t it highly possible that he could have done more than just shaved off his moustache and beard? (that is, if he’s still in Singapore)

Should Wong Kan Seng resign?

Regarding the recent escape of JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari, someone started an interesting poll in STOMP on “Who should resign over the terrorist escape issue?”. At the time of this blog entry, the results are as follows:

Chief Of Police: 14.39%
Wong Kan Seng (Minister Of Home Affairs) : 16.55%
Both should resign: 69.06%

If combined together, Wong Kan Seng scores an overwhelming 85.61%! (now, THAT is what we call a strong mandate, not 66.6%)

Hurry over and cast your vote now!

Update (2 Mar 2008): Boo boo! The poll has just been removed from STOMP (the above link now points to an invalid thread). I agree as mr brown muses: “We are not like those free-wheeling and chaotic governments from Western democracies that make their leaders accountable for every little thing.”

Update (10 Mar 2008): Ah, found another similar poll that’s active: http://www.luckypolls.com/index.php?act=08&id=10013

Mr Chiam See Tong

Today while having breakfast with Reverend Lee and other morning prayer mates near St Andrew’s Junior College, we had the pleasant surprise of bumping into Mr Chiam See Tong, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Potong Pasir constituency. He mentioned he’s making his rounds in the neighbourhood to wish residents a happy Chinese New Year. So I quickly whipped out my handphone camera and took a picture with him:

What a memorable moment it was. To have a photograph taken together with one of the most respected political figures in Singapore. Though he’s into his 70s, Mr Chiam still actively works the ground in his Potong Pasir constituency. The respect that the residents have for him is obvious - I saw residents coming up to him, shaking hands, exchanging their regards just like what old friends do.

Come to think of it, I’ve never bumped into my own MP in the constituency where I live (Sengkang). Oh wait, there indeed was once - when they were diligently dishing out pamphlets in Sengkang MRT station during the previous General Election. Strangely, I’ve never seen them ever since.

A tale of two Facebook groups

This week’s 15 Jan 2008 Digital Life (a Straits Times accompaniment every Tuesday) showcased examples of companies and organisations leveraging on social networking sites.

One of the showcased was Singapore’s very own Speak Mandarin Campaign. The Promote Mandarin Council has created a group in Facebook to promote the Speak Mandarin Campaign. The name of this group is: Speak Mandarin - Are You Game?. According to the Digital Life article, the group has an “impressive” membership count of 100+ (the current count is 140 as at time of writing this blog entry).

This reminds me of another Singapore-related Facebook group that I chanced upon. Unlike the earlier Promote Mandarin Council group, this other group does not have the publicity backing of any government councils or organisations; it seems to be started by a couple of individuals. And yet, its membership count is 2274 (almost twenty times more)! The name of this group is: I’m pissed off that my prime minister’s getting S$3.1 million this year. Perhaps the Promote Mandarin Council can take a leaf from this group’s book to grow their membership beyond the “impressive” 140?

It seems that Singaporeans are more concerned about this other issue than speaking Mandarin.

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