Recently, I came to learn that all Year 5 students in Terengganu will be given laptops under the state’s e-book program. That translates to RM30 million, with some 25,000 pupils involved.

With broadband connection, it is claimed that the pupils would gain access to lots of vital resources.

But I doubt the laptops will be useful academically. Mesti semua sibuk download movies, songs, porn, etc. Tak pun layan chat, friendster, facebook, etc. So I did a simple search, and I found that numerous studies have shown that there is no correlation between laptop usage and academic performance:

• The US Department of Education recently released a study showing no difference in academic achievement between students who used educational software programs for math and reading and those who did not.
• Mark Warschauer, a professor at the University of California also found no evidence that laptops increased test scores in a study of 10 schools in California and Maine from 2003 to 2005.
• The Texas Center for Educational Research, a nonprofit group, has so far found no overall difference on test scores between 21 schools where students received laptops, and 21 schools where they did not.

Interestingly, I also found that hundreds of schools across the globe have started abandoning their laptop programs. Here just a few reasons why:

• Underutilized by Students. Matoaca High School began eliminating its five-year-old laptop program after concluding that students had failed to show any academic gains. A survey found that one-fifth of their students rarely or never used their laptops for learning.
• Underutilized by Teachers. Everett Rea Elementary School in Califronia gave away 30 new laptops to another school in 2005 after a class that was trying them out changed to new teachers who simply did not do as much with the technology.
• High Training Costs. Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts eliminated its five-year-old laptop program in 2002 after it found that more effort was being expended on training teachers to teach with laptops.
• High Maintenance Cost. In Liverpool Highschool in Syracuse, parents have long criticized the cost of the laptop program: about $300,000 a year from the state, plus individual student leases of $25 a month.
• High Repair Costs. School officials in Broward County in Florida paid $7.2 million to lease 6,000 laptops at four schools, and was spending more than $100,000 a year for repairs to screens and keyboards that are not covered by warranties.

Yes, I know that Terengganu is cash-rich. Still, is the laptop program a wise move? What do you think?

Tired of filling up the grant forms but never get the grant money? Well, don’t give up! Discover the tricks of the trade. They key is to understand what THEY want. You can’t expect the government to simply give out the people’s money to you, can you? Here are several tips from the people who have successfully cracked the elusive golden eggs into their bank accounts:

1. Choose projects that benefit the public. In order to get the grant, you must have a viable project that will benefit the public. It’s about giving back to the people. After all, the government is the one who pays you, so they have the right to choose only projects with the best ROI for their investments. The higher the number of beneficiaries involved, the better your chances are in being considered.

2. Determine your target market. Be firm on who are the beneficiaries of your project. The more practical the project is, the more likely they will give you the money. The project might involve, for instance, the orang asli, drug addicts, teenagers, single mothers, etc.

3. Get the Letter of Intent. When you deal with the respected parties that will directly benefit from your project, ask them for the Letter of Intent. Just explain the benefits they will gain from the project, and in return, ask for the Letter of Intent. With that precious letter in hand, you will then have more credibility to convince the government officers to accept your grant application.

*Aidan Tech does NOT guarantee that the above tips will work for you. Any attempt based on the tips shall be at your own risk. Best of luck!

The internet is full with the geek jargon  such as “social media”, “blogging”, “RSS”, “Web 2.0″ and their like. The Web has created its own set of words, but their popularity change over time.  More and more jargon being created meaning it getting harder for all of us to catch up.  Pingdom had the effort to compile this trend and you can see the full list on their website. Here is some major trend that hits us the past few years.

• “Web 2.0” peaked in 2007 and has been decreasing in 2008.
• The ever-popular “cloud computing” actually dropped sharply late in 2008 after having been increasing rapidly since late 2007.
• While the interest for “blogging” hasn’t changed much over the last couple of years, “microblogging” has seen a rapid rise since early 2007 (presumably due to Twitter).
• “Blogger” has been increasing four years straight.
• “Ecommerce” is decreasing.
• “RSS” is decreasing.
• “Affiliate program” saw a sharp increase during the second half of 2008.

I personally hope that Aidan will continue upgrade itself to keep-up with this everchanging trends.

Either we want to accept it or not, internet is not the safest place to be (yet!) . Untill we (the developers) really pay attention to the error on the code we wrote.

Security experts have released a list of what they consider to be the 25 most critical errors made while coding software.

The list was released so programmers can check their code for the most common errors that produce security vulnerabilities.

The top two coding errors were improper input validation and improper encoding or escaping of output,  I believe those particular errors earned the top rating for good reason.  It’s the basic security features commonly overlook by the developers.

To read the whole list and method to fix em, head to Sans Institute Web site

Lessons from Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple Computers

Steve Jobs is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our generation. His success story is legendary. Put up for adoption at an early age, dropped out of college after 6 months, slept on friends’ floors, returned coke bottles for 5 cent deposits to buy food, then went on to start Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios.

1. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

2. Be different. Think different. “Better be a pirate than to join the navy.”

3. Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire    good people with passion for excellence.

4. Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don’t hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.

5. Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

6. Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. “I want to put a ding in the universe,” reveal Steve Jobs his dream.

7.  Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there’s a better technology available, use it no matter if anyone else is not using it. Be the first, and make it an industry standard.

8. Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don’t know it, they won’t buy your product. Pay attention to design. “We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

9. Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you’re at the top of the chain, sometimes people won’t give you honest feedback because they’re afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product - listen to your customers first.

10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.

11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

12. Learn continually. There’s always “one more thing” to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don’t like, learn to like them - praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

Executive Summary by Vadim Kotelnikov

I came across a news that Malaysia’s very own information kiosk utilising the touchscreen concept, e-ryza, was launched in KL Sentral yesterday.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman said the kiosk, called the Brain of Malaysia, would serve as a platform to promote “Zoom! Malaysia”, the ministry’s campaign to promote domestic tourism.

The news claimed that the kiosk has web access, video mail, bill payment and e-ticketing services, among others. It also provides Internet access at a low rate, 20 sen for every two minutes.

So far, 100 kiosks have been installed at various places like the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), KL Sentral and a few shopping malls in Klang Valley. Another 100 units will be installed this year at public areas in all states and airports.

With the cost of RM40k per unit, I really hope the kiosks will be fully utilized..

Web design doesn’t exist. It is a myth. And it’s tired.

What does exist is graphic design, and GUI (graphic user interface) design, which are the latest instances in design history. They both encompass traditional design elements – personality, tone, metaphor – but place a far greater emphasis on information architecture (IA).

Usually (arguably), graphic designers help storytellers and programmers make sense of their writing and messaging for a larger Internet audience. More often than not they fail; occasionally they are on the edge of disaster, and on rare occasions they get it right.

A lot is written about web usability and how it is a mix of technology, sociology, philosophy, communication… and of course web design. There are thousands of blogs about web design, telling you how to do this, and how to do that. Recipes and design “tips and tricks” are all over the Internet. Do you want to be serious, corporate, funny, casual, rare, medium rare, well done? Successful? Of course you want to be successful. Who doesn’t? Promises are made and then graphic wizards work their magic and you are suddenly the proud owner of a beautifully designed website - whatever that means.

What we see every day are streams of indistinguishable graphics, cheap wholesale photography, meaningless marketing messages (“solutions” being my favorite), safe color palettes, derivative designs (I want it to look like The Mac site!), poor execution of interactivity and multimedia (could we have a Flash slide show with sound and really cool transitions) and so on…

Slowly, inevitably, the Internet is being transformed into the biggest garbage dump in the world… and web designers are partly to blame. We have no business without clients, which means we are hostage to the limitations our clients impose. But what this demands of us is greater client education in the art of the possible. It is our job to inspire our clients to see beyond what exists, to break barriers and capture the greater customer engagement opportunities that only the web enables. We have been given an incredible tool but rarely do we stretch it to capacity. Our industry is hesitant to embrace new ways of communication. Marketers rely too much on the old rules of graphic design that belong to traditional print and broadcast media, and which need to be left in traditional media. We are all on a new and different level of communication, which opens new doors, new opportunities, a brave new world if you will, that the few and the courageous have entered and the majority have ignored.

Together, we need to stop talking about static brochures, and start talking about Information Architecture, Storytelling and online community engagement.

So, what can be done?

Design does not, and should not, work on it’s own, creating an empty and meaningless vessel. Design for the web should be a cleverly crafted part of the story telling; it is in fact a critical part of the story. Design for the web is not a box into which we put text and stock photos, links and endless tripe about who we are and why we’re great… as if the world were waiting for us. We further abuse the medium when we appear cheap and obvious; appealing to the lowest common denominator and ignoring the intelligence of good customers, online communities and interested prospects.

The concept and form begin as fine art, and the final product deserves to be no less of a work of art. Incorporating an original concept and high quality content, both textual and visual, with every single project seen as the first one, and the only one. This is a world you envision, create, populate, form out of meaning – it is not a picture – it is a universe unto itself.

This creative process involves planning, research, learning, insight, documentation, ideation, presentation, and production. All of which showcases creativity at its best.

There is no limit to what you can accomplish, just as there is no limit to the companies who shortcut the process, and shortbus their results.

As we kick off 2009, one thing is crystal clear: We’re entering an entirely new era for marketers. Let’s call this the year for building relationships. Right now, prospects want to make every purchase a safe one. That means they’ll rely on companies or brands they know and trust. Closing sales will require a stronger emphasis on tactics that let you relate to customers one to one. And it’s never been more important to craft a set of effective letters that you can customize for individual prospects.

Writing a great letter takes a bit of time and know-how. Whether you use it to follow up a lead, close a hot prospect or introduce your products and services, a well-crafted letter will be one of your most powerful marketing tools in the new year.

These six rules will help you write letters that motivate your best prospects:

Rule 1. Set a Measurable Goal
Every good letter must be written to make something happen. Focus on that goal before you begin, and decide what your letter must contain to produce the desired result. Make reading your letter worthwhile for your prospect, and it will reward you by advancing the sales process. If you’re sending letters just to provide prospects with more information, you’re wasting your postage and opportunity to move prospects to the next level.

Rule 2. Have a Strong Hook
Your letter has to immediately grab the reader’s interest or it’ll be discarded as junk mail. Depending on the type of business you’re in and what you’re marketing, your hook can be a special offer or a lead communicating a unique benefit. When your letter follows a phone call, highlight the benefits your prospect desires in the first paragraph.

Rule 3. Convey a Unique Message
Have you ever received letters from competing companies with virtually identical offers? Chances are you tossed them because you couldn’t tell one company from the other. Take a look at one of your old letters. If it could have been sent by any of your closest competitors, rethink your approach. The message, pricing and offers contained in your letter must be unique to your business and tie into your branding.

Rule 4. Keep the Reader in Mind
Imagine you were face to face with your prospect, reading your letter aloud. Would you be comfortable, or would the tone be all wrong? Your letter is a one-to-one communication with a real person. Don’t come on too strong or overpromise. Use simple, direct language, not flowery prose or impressive vocabulary. And because you won’t really be face to face with your prospect, the look of your letter alone must convey your professionalism, so double-check for errors.

Rule 5. Write About “You the Customer”
Great letters are –directed outward. That means they stress what “you the customer” will get and not what “we the company” provide. Highlight benefits front and center, and use the body of your letter to describe the features. Then summarize the key benefit once again, and close with a call to action that gives the prospect a reason to move to the next step in your sales process.

Rule 6. Make Responding Easy
No matter what type of marketing letter you’re writing, close by providing a clear and actionable next step. In some cases, the responsibility for that action–such as sending a written proposal or contract–will rest with you. When a special offer has been made, your letter should make it quick and easy for the prospect to take advantage of it via phone, e-mail and postal mail. The fewer hurdles your prospect must jump, the more likely you are to close the sale.

Resolutions are easy to make. The problem is, they’re even easier to break. Nevertheless, making New Year’s resolutions is a must for business owners. In our never-ending quest to make things easier for entrepreneurs, I’ve come up with five resolutions that shouldn’t be that hard to keep and that should help all of us. What follows may not seem like typical New Year’s resolutions. But that’s just as well, since this isn’t going to be a typical year. The sunniest predictions for 2009 say the economy will start to turn around by the third quarter of the year, but that it will still take at least another year before we’re back to where we were. I’m not saying this to sound discouraging; it’s just the reality we must now face.

Resolution #1 is to think smarter. Apply new solutions to old (and new) challenges. Stop doing what you’ve always done and ask yourself, What else you can offer with what you’ve got? “Do more with less” may be a clich?, but it’s a good mantra to adopt in 2009.

Resolution #2 is to be resourceful. There are lots of ways to spend less and achieve the same (or better) results. Audit your business. Check for inefficiencies.

Resolution #3 is about technology. Old hardware sucks time and can literally slow your business down. Outdated software is just inefficient and can easily affect productivity, which of course will likely impact revenues and profits. There are bargains aplenty out there (that’s including Aidan tech services), so it’s actually a good time to upgrade your technology.

Resolution #4. Speak up. Ask for what you want. Nearly every business is in the same dire straits these days, so everyone is negotiating. Don’t buy anything without at least asking for the best price.

Resolution #5 is to open up. Let your employees know how things are going so they can help if you need it. It’s better to tell the truth than to hide it. Uninformed workers are often immobilized by fear of the unknown, so sharing the state of your business keeps everyone focused on what is, rather than what may be.

Let’s make 2009 the year of the small business. Resolve to start a business. Or to grow the one you have. That’s the best way to help the Malaysian and global economies grow.