In a Windows world populated by pockets of diehard Mac fans, Parallels Desktop was what Joelle Pang would use to run her programs smoothly and wow clients at the same time.

Of late, the online boutique store owner has been wowing her Mac-loving clients and colleagues with her Apple computer while still running her favourite Windows programs on her Mac during presentations – something that has scored her points during presentations.

By retelling those compelling stories for the Techgoondu/Parallels contest last month, she has won herself a much-coveted iPad 2. The tablet is given out by our pals at Parallels Software, which makes the Parallel Desktops 6 (PD6) software that enables Mac users to simultaneously run Windows programs on their Apple computers. 

We had already given out one iPad 2 in the first part of our contest. In the second giveaway, Joelle won the contest with her truly geeky take on the software.

The Coherence mode hides the Windows desktop completely, allowing Windows programs running on the Mac desktop as a simple window which intrigues the client utterly. It facilitates having Windows and Mac applications on the screen side-by-side, and dragging objects between them. The presentation was a huge success. The above goondu moment while working on Parallels Desktop 6 for an excellent presentation to a renowned Mac fanatic client earned me accolades which were beneficial to my future career development in these difficult times.

While Mac is the “in” thing to have, the fact remains that it’s a Windows world. Microsoft enjoys some 90 percent market share with Windows, while Mac claims only around five percent. It’s Parallels Desktop 6 providing the bridge to switch from Windows to Mac enabling the enjoyment of the best of both worlds; especially useful to those Windows die-hard users who do not want to lose the familiarity of Windows. Not forgetting the free Mobile Applications that allows you to remotely control the Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac virtual machines using the iDevice of your choice from afar.

Congratulations to Joelle! We hope you enjoy the new tablet!

Thank you to all our readers for taking part in the iPad 2 contest. Do look out for more giveaways soon on Techgoondu here and on our Facebook page.

Fortune published its list of the Most Admired companies in the world earlier this month, and BrandFinance just followed suit with its list of the 500 world’s more valuable brands, measured with a different methodology. Surprisingly, this list is rather different from Fortune’s; more technology companies made it into the top ten, and (gasp!) Microsoft is ranked higher than Apple!

To arrive at its results, BrandFinance put factors such as brand’s revenue into the blender of a rather complicated methodology to come up with a rating that is similar to a credit rating issued by banks. Hit up their site for a more comprehensive explanation.

Of the companies that made it to the top ten, seven can be considered tech companies. We’re all familiar with Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple. General Electric also manufactures high-tech products from aircraft engines to power generators. Rounding up the seven are two telecommunications companies – Vodafone from the UK and AT&T from the US.

Google jumps to the top spot this year from its second place last year, with its brand valued at US$44.2 billion dollars, 23 per cent higher than last year’s $36 billion. The search giant received a brand rating of AAA+ for going into un-commercial endeavours and its active not-for-profit ventures such as the Google Person Finder. Google’s reputation for innovation is renowned, and continues to grow with the impending launch of Chrome OS.

Microsoft climbed from the 5^th spot last year to the 2^nd this year, and also received a rating of AAA+. Valued at US$42.8 billion (up from $33.6 billion in 2010), the world’s largest software maker has indeed been making significant changes to its product line-ups. Windows 7, Bing, and Windows Phone 7 have garnered generally positive reviews, and the company is set to preview its next desktop operating system soon.

IBM, the “big blue”, held on to its fourth spot, and continues on strong in its offerings of infrastructure, hosting, and consultancy services. IBM holds more patents than any other US corporation, and is extending its reach into Asia with the construction of its China Analytics Solution Center. BrandFinance valued it at US$36.1 billion.

But the most dramatic improvement comes from Apple, which leaped from the 20^th spot last year to the 8^th, coming in at an increase of 45 per cent to US$29.5 billion. The company commands almost unwavering loyalty from its fans with a mixture of good products and clever marketing, and single-handedly created an entire class of products with the iPad. It is expected to launch the iPhone 5 later this year.

Other notable brands on the top 100 include Intel (No. 27), Amazon (No.32), Oracle (No.53), Sony (No. 61), and Dell (No. 77). Nokia experienced a freefall from the 21^st spot down to the 94^th, perhaps signaling that it really is time for the company to change. This latest list, which ranks Microsoft so high up, suggests that they might have made the right decision to work with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7.

A new face on the list is Facebook, which comes in at the 281^st spot. The social networking company’s brand is valued at US$3.69 billion and has grown to more than 500 million users since its inception. As a young company, it still has a lot of questions to be answered. Will it go public this year? Will a competiting product from Google successfully challenge its reign? Indeed, it’ll be interesting to see where Facebook is going this year.

Again, we have a bonus for Singapore readers! Singapore Airlines made this list too, and clinched the 274^th spot, though down from 225^th last year. It received an impressive grade of AAA-, and is valued at US$3.75 billion.

How would you change the list? Let us know in the comments!

Post-paid mobile users in Singapore can send donations to help victims of the devastating Japanese earthquake earlier this month by simply sending an SMS with their phones.

All you have to do is send an SMS to 78888, whether you are on SingTel, StarHub or M1, to make S$5, S$10 or S$20 donations to the Singapore Red Cross to aid the cause.

• For a $5 donation, SMS RC5 to 78888
• For a $10 donation, SMS RC10 to 78888
• For a $20 donation, SMS RC20 to 78888

The amount will be reflected in your next monthly bill. This donation drive runs from now until midnight on April 11, 2011. Donations are not tax-deductible and persons below the age of 18 years will require parental or guardian consent before making a donation.

Do support this donation drive, as aid for the country has been a little slow to come through.

Here they are, in order of best deals (in my opinion)

BT3OR SF7 – $39.80 for TWO large pizzas with EXTRA cheese (save $25.80)

BT5 OR SF6 – $25.80 for TWO regular pizzas (save $19.80)

SF 8 – FREE regular pizza when you buy a large one (save $22.80) Tuesday Only

SF 5 – 30% off any regular, large or xtra large pizza

Update: OK i figured out the problem. The phone strangely does not set the access point settings automatically when you insert the SIM card, so it needs a manual configuration, for starhub users you need to go to settings>mobile networks>access point names>press menu>then press new apn then set apn as shinternet or as shwapint, 3G should work now.

Update 2:  Google issued a statement yesterday about connecting to 3G, here’s the excerpt.

So when I sat down and asked myself what I would like for X’mas, I really had to think hard. But here’s what I think I would need:

(1) Time.
I want to rip all my DVDs, VCDs, convert my LDs plus convert my home video tapes into a digital format, and store them all in my 4-bay NAS. Sounds like a lot of time, which is what I really need but don’t have much of.

(2) A new mobile phone plan
Since my contract ended in October, I am going to switch from my 800 minutes plan with 0 GB free data  to 100 minutes plan with 12GB  free data. I am going to start using Hoiio or pfingo Bounce to make local calls to cut down on my mobile phone bill. Why pay 16.05cents per minute when I can get it for 3.8 cents per minute.

(3) A gaming laptop
I have many laptops but I think it’s time to get a 15.6-inch or 17-inch machine that can do everything including games. I have been testing the 17-inch Gateway P series and so far I am very pleased with it. The laptop does not overheat after hours of gameplay! Trying to see if prices will fall under $2,500.

(4) A sound system
The stereo speakers from my 40-inch Samsung TV really sucks and having done quite a few stories on hifi-systems at Audio House, I am convinced it’s time to get a good 5.1 sound system. I liked the Polk Audio speakers I tested the last time, will probably combine that with a Denon amp. Trying to get it all for about $2,000.

(5) A new phone for my wife
This is the toughest choice of all. It’s hard to figure out what women really wants, and that also applies to getting a phone for them. I think I’ll stick to a Sony Ericsson with a good camera. And no, I wont get her an iPhone.

Tiny Singapore finally joins the ranks of countries with Street View today, right on the heels of the roll out in Hawaii and large parts of Spain in November.

This also makes Singapore the third Asian country after Japan and Taiwan (Taipei city only) to be mapped in 3D by the Mountain View firm.

With the implementation of live traffic and its maplets platform on November 19, Google has almost completed its geo-index of the country and will certainly make it harder for local map companies to catch up. But for those that are already harnessing the Google Map API like gothere.sg, it’s a boon as they would have access to Google Map features such as how gothere.sg has integrated Google live traffic.

What is yet to be announced is whether data captured by the Google Trike (a tri-wheel bicycle which captures images in areas inaccessible by car) will be ported into Street View Singapore.

It is also interesting to note, with the number of new buildings being constructed from the time the Google car was first spotted in Singapore, the current images of new shopping centres like ION Orchard are still a mess of scaffolding (see picture above). It is unknown how often Google will be updating its images.

Techgoondu will have more information of this launch after lunch (kinda rhymes doesn’t it? ;p), so watch this space later.

But in the meantime, check out the Street View SG at ION Orchard for yourself.

*UPDATES:

The current Street View in Singapore does not include data collected by the Trike, it will be launched in a later phase. This would include content updates for completed buildings that were still in construction during the first round of image capture. According to Google, new shopping centres along Orchard road will be updated once every building has been completed along that stretch. It would appear then that Google does not do updates by the building, but it is by the road stretch, a limitation perhaps of its image capture technology.

Users can access Street View through the desktop or a mobile device. For mobile handsets, a specific Google Map app must be installed to facilitate viewing.

Google obviously believes in helping its own. Devices with a built-in compass and running the Android OS are capable of point of view display in different directions in relation to the user’s viewing direction. The iPhone 3GS does not i.e. You would have to manually swipe the screen to change your viewing direction.

Update: If you didn’t manage to catch the livecast, we have a recorded video of Ellison’s closing keynote, featuring a guest appearance by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who hailed technology as the solution to the climate issues facing us today.

If you haven’t read the previous roundup on this Sony Ericsson contest, you’re missing out on some other really good entries. There were a few close runner-ups that were pipped by just a vote or two, and would have won if the votes had fallen in other ways. Still, in a contest decided by democratic votes by the judges, the majority speaks, even if winners win by just a sliver of votes.

Without further ado, let’s move on to the three winners!

Our first winner is Ms Aileen Ang from Ubi, who sent in the above photo of cupcakes that she baked herself. This entry was almost unanimously voted on by all the goondus. Here’s what she said:

I am such a fan of Mac that my cupcakes are decorated with Mac navigation controls and function keys! Talk about being geeky! It combines my favourite hobby (baking) with my geeky personality. I suppose almost none of my girl friends would ever attempt this stunt!

Our other two winners were story descriptions of geeky moments that tickled the goondus’ fancy, and enough votes were tipped in their favour.

Our second winner is Zorana from Hougang who had this amusing short story of her stylus addiction to share with us:

Being both a tablet notebook and touch screen mobile phone user over these years, I am very used to working around with a stylus pen. It all went well until one presentation that I was conducting with my laptop connected to a LCD TV.

In the midst of the meeting, I was so engrossed that I moved toward the TV and began tapping away on the screen with the stylus pen to further illustrate my points. When the screen content didn’t move to my clicks, I absent-mindedly blurted out: “Gosh, don’t tell me the system is dead?” in front of my amused audiences. At that instance, I realized my big boo-boo but the crowd was already giggling away and I froze there blankly with my face turning red with embarrassment.

Luckily, a quick-witted telco VP came to my rescue and said, “Hey, perhaps we should give this lady an applause for her innovations, she might just as well be the next inventor of the touch screen LCD TV!”

Needless to say, I became the joke of the year as the word spread across the trade but whenever someone brings out that TV screen-tapping incident, I would always cite my gratitude to that good-natured VP who bailed me out that day.

And our last winner is Peter Tan from Hougang who shared his story of illegal bluetooth activities. Many of the goondus are car drivers who talk and drive, so this story tickled the judges:

I was driving behind a friend and we were both talking on Sony Ericsson phone to each other. At a stoplight we ended up being about a car length behind each other so I decided to shoot a picture of his car while still talking on the phone to him. Then I connected to his phone via Bluetooth and actually sent the picture to his phone.

You have to be a true geek to fully appreciate this experience. Needless to say, we were both impressed with the fact that the phones connected and exchanged the picture over Bluetooth while still retaining the voice connection. I wanted to call some geeky friends to share the joy but I couldn’t reach anyone else on the phone.

Why is this geek moment unique to Singaporeans? Well, who dares to break the law in Singapore? Talking on a phone while driving side by side with a friend. I did not get caught and this time there were no cars around. This is the first time and the last time doing it. I will not do it again.

Congratulations to all our winners! You will be notified via a call on how to collect the phones from us at a later date, probably within a week or so.

For readers who have sent in entries for this contest and the previous LG TV one and didn’t win anything — thank you for supporting us — please do not stop sending in your entries for future contests! All techgoondu contests are not random lucky draws, and if your entry is well thought out you will definitely stand a chance to win something someday.

Lastly, on behalf of the goondus, I sincerely thank all readers who have spent time and effort participating in this little contest of ours. Have a great weekend ahead!

Like in our previous LG TV giveaway contest run last year, we had some very good entries, but unfortunately not everybody can be a winner — we had to pare the numbers down to three lucky winners amongst all the entries.

Similar to last year, the winners are chosen by a democratic vote of the goondus. Even though our individual goondu tastes might be quite different, the process is generally a fair one.

But first, before we announce the winners, let’s take a look at some of the wackier and more interesting entries that were sent in this time round.

Some readers sent in photos that left the goondus scratching their heads, like this one from Wong Kum Yew from Jurong West, in which he writes that he was forced to wear a baby hat and shake a rattle during his honeymoon.

Unfortunately Mr Wong, whilst we applaud your bravery and candidness in sharing your photo and story (and thanks for that!), we can’t vote on you because it doesn’t really fit the contest theme of having an IT/gadget related epiphany!

Some entries were really technically esoteric, like this one on stateful firewalls by Albert from Serangoon, who writes that his best geek moment was “hand coding his own Iptable firewall”. And he even had a photo taken to prove it:

Besides these, we had quite a few photo submissions: of gamers playing games (or spoofing them), on pets, on modding PCs, etc. which showcased a huge variety of interesting geek moments.

We also had some really pretty interesting text entries, like this poem from Avorie Koh from Bedok, in which she describes as a “geek moment story” told by a talking phone. I’m not sure the goondus really get the haiku style prose, but it certainly is… interesting.

Talking phone poem

Hello everybody, my name is GOONDUTECH =)
I wish to own a Sony Ericsson G705 =)

Currently I own a Sony Ericsson phone K850i
It is a gift from my brother
The Cyber-shot function of 5.0 megapixels,
Click and Snap!
My photos turn out to be crystal clear =)

I do fancy a phone which besides talking to my friends, I can also watch YouTube videos, find my way around with Google maps and surf with Wi-Fi on the go!

My birthday is around the corner
I wish for a sweet surprise?
Thank you =)

Here’s another interesting poem by Delia Tan from Bukit Batok, who says it’s about the story of a geek. Looked on as misfits in society, the geek realizes that in the end it doesn’t matter what others think, and it’s a message to geeks to “embrace who they are”.

Poem – Geek

My speedy fingers typing,
Geek, geek, geek
My glasses are near breaking,
Geek, geek, geek.

As I�m busy texting,
The people are now smirking.
Geek, geek, geek.
Geek, geek, geek.

I try hard to mend my glasses,
But now the lenses are broken.
I try to wear the latest,
But trends just make me look worse.

Geek, geek, geek!
Geek, geek, geek!

And as I fumble around,
My iPhone, iPod fall out.
My hands are full of papers,
Of cheat codes, hacking letters.

Geek, geek, geek!
Geek, geek, geek!

Finally I grab hold,
Of my favourite iPhone.
I slide my fingers across,
As I listen to songs.

Geek, geek, geek.
Geek, geek, geek.

I listen to all the techno,
And a bit of disco.
I sway away to the awesome beat,
Trying to move my clumsy feet.

Geek.
Geek.
Ge–

Wha?
I love my life!

I’d also like to mention two merit entries that made it to our short list of finalists, but were cut in the final voting round. Sorry folks, you were close, but we had only three phones to give away.

The first is a web comic, Counting Sheep, by Deepak Sarda of West Coast Road, which I have reproduced here from his Flickr page:

The second is an entry by Cheryl Tan from Joo Seng Road, where her boyfriend sent her a “proposal” in World of Warcraft. It would have been a clear winner if it had been a real proposal (but done in Wow). Still, as Cheryl said, it’s a “geeky but sweet” moment.

And… finally we have arrived at the moment where we announce our winners… later this week! Watch out for Part II of the roundup where we will showcase the winning entries.

Yes, yes, I’m an evil bastard for having you read this far and not give the results. Sorry, the article is too long already, and besides, we needed to give credit to the more interesting entries. Feel free to leave your comments below!