The media server ...

I have discovered, to my delight, how to streamline video and audio files from my IMac computer to my Playstation 3. I have tried many a time to look for software that can do this, but to no avail. From the Youtube, I manage to download a protocol called Eyeconnect which served the purpose but the software was only good for 30 days and was occasionally difficult to interface my computer with the PS3.

After spending a few exasperating hours with Eyeconnect I was beginning to give up until I chanced to see a Youtube flash video that have this young nerd of a man telling everyone that anyone can do the streaming for free; he repeatedly emphasized that the software was 100% free. All that was needed was to do the following.

(1) Go to google and look for http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver.com/downloads

(2) Click to open the webpage which takes you to another page that had the file to be downloaded. It described that the file which is pms-macosx-1.10.5.dmg is a PS3 media server file for the Max operating system, and is of 23.0 megabyte in size.

(3) Click on the file to download. It will you take you to another webpage showing 5 files to be downloaded depending on what type of platform or system you are using. In may case, I picked the last on the list which was for Mac operating system that was described as stable.

(4) On clicking this file (which was the same as the above highlighted file), Apple opened its download page showing the downloading progress. Even on a 5 Mbps, it took me about 10 minutes to download the 23Mbyte. Pretty slow, I must say.

(5) Click on the file (which now has a .dmg extension) to install.

(6) A PS3 icon appeared on the smart bar at the bottom of the screen.

(7) Double click on the PS3 icon to run the program.

And here was when I ran into trouble. By right, the PS3 icon should appear on the page; instead it showed a big fat red circle enclosing a white tilted cross denoting that the PS3 was not connected to the IMac. Try as I did to ensure that the PS3 was on, that the ethernet cable from my router was firmly secured to the ethernet socket of my PS3, I was unable to make my PS3 connected to my IMac. I was simply frustrated for 3 hours. As a last resort, I looked at the nerd again for his instruction on Youtube where I missed the part that he suggested, which was to connect wirelessly. With this in mind, I re-set up my wireless network and, lo and behold, the black PS3 icon appeared on the page and the Green Triangle on the TV when I made the search for Media server.

After that, it was a breeze to scroll through the files on my computer using the PS3 controller and of course I could load and play my video, audio and pix files as though the files were stored in my PS3 Harddisk. Despite the wireless connection, I still maintain the ethernet cable connection.

The next day was another problem. I restarted my IMac and PS3 only to find that all the devices were again not connected. I re-started the wireless network, but nothing happened. I then switch to a wired network and immediately there appeared the PS3 icon. On searching the PS3 for the media server, at once the green triangle appeared showing that my PS3 was connected to my IMac. I'll keep on trying this method, without having to rely on the Eyeconnect which was to expire.

After a couple of days, I now seem to get the hang of it. What I do is, after booting the Media Server program, I switch alternately from wireless to wired and vice versa. And Presto ! I get the PS3 and IMac connected without any more problems.

Cheers !

Bumiputrasation of the economic wealth ..

How on earth did the Bumiputras lose control of RM 52 billion, out of RM 54 billion, worth of shares over the past 21 years since the "Bumiputrasation" policy was incepted by the government. This claim by the PKR secretary-general, Saifuddin Nasution, appeared in the MT blog that I came across this morning.

So far, I have never heard of this mentioned in the past nor read about it in the various media, mainstream or electronic. Saifuddin continued to say that the PM had confirmed it in 2009 when he said that only RM 2 billion worth of shares now remain in Bumiputra hands. Sometime in the 1970's, the government embarked on a policy of making the Bumiputras own some 30% of the nation's wealth, to wit, to own some 30% of the wealth of the companies listed on the stock exchange.

To this end, the government, through PNB, introduced the Amanah Saham National scheme for Malays initially, and later to all Bumiputras in Malaysia, including even those of Portuguese descents, like the Nasranis. What PNB did was to acquire at least 30 % of the shares listed on the stock exchange and distributed them to the Bumiputras by way of subscriptions to the shares in the Amanah Saham. The subscribers do not really own individual shares directly, but through share units in the Amanah Saham scheme at RM 1.00 each. The subscribers, or the unitholders, simply buy units at RM 1.00 each. In this way, the government is successful in making the Bumiputras or PNB own at least 30 % of the stock's worth in the Stock Exchange.

But there were also direct owners of the listed stocks, such as those mentioned by the PKR man who said that, since 1971, these stocks only benefited a small segment of the Bumiputra population, implying that the elitist group comprising UMNO members were the direct beneficiaries. They were the ones that sold RM 52 billion out of RM 54 billion worth of stocks, and that's why the 30% target for Bumiputras to own the nation's wealth could never be attained. Because no sooner were the shares given to them than they take the opportunity to make a "fast buck" by selling the shares to non Bumiputras.

He cited as a potential example in 2010 when RM 1.5 billion worth of shares from 18 IPOs (Initial Public Offering) were given to Bumiputra investors and feared that these shares might go the way previous shares had gone and urged the Finance Ministry to give a list of the recipients of the RM 1.5 billion worth of the new IPO shares.

More on this ....