Saturday, December 27, 2008

Singaporean couple caught having sex in car park!~

It says all..happily fondling and enjoying themselves that someone with good DSLR caught them on screen. Thanks to my useless sis who has nothing better to do than to scavenge for gossips among her friends of paparazzi bloggers which then uploaded them to STOMP!

THIS POST IS RATED (NC-16)



Thursday, December 25, 2008

Fan Box?? What Box?

It's been a hell of a week. XMAS rush, fire sales, KLIA and running about like the headless chicken as it is makes me mad, and drive the toll up on my transportation. Yeah, the bike is screwed after the engine oil leaked out and basically it kapooted the engine blocks and piston which NAZA said that it can only be done after the new year...means 2 weeks time. Bad enough the car is in the JPJ compound due to the accident during hari raya (police car crashed into me) and well, I have to rush another order for the KLIA and LCCT which is a real turning point to me. Hopefully the deal can be done as it's worth almost RM250k a month in sales alone with more recurring business.

Fan box is the next on my agenda. After my clash with the guy at i-gomobile, which is like Monsun, I had to develop another payment application system where you don't need to use your bank account to pay for stuff. I mainly don't like them because of hints by some compliance guys at Bank Negara that these people will be shut down soon due to their get rich quick schemes. So it's back to my drawing board for reverse payment systems as I look back to my old com padre SMS.AC which now is FANBOX.

There are many application development systems in place and mainly using C# which I hated because of it's links to Microsoft and their tech teams. So then the alternative was PHP interface with FLASH and xPML which I was wondering what the heck was that. eXtended Phone Markup Language just like the XML but for mobile communications with Java enabled systems. Ouch.

Where can I get help on that one I wondered and then revert to their forums and WiKi which is a useless place to be since their wiki had been defaced by so many people. It's a money making business actually since good applications earn over US$300k based on the $1 per international download or activation or US$5 per US download. Given the number of Black Berries and what not are there, it's a real deal as I can port payment systems, guides etc to mobile phones. Interface Google earth and then mark the local shops etc on there so that these Small Medium Enterprise (IKS-which to me means Industri Kuman/ Kawan-kawan dan sebagainya...literally means super micro enterprises) as they are booming like mushrooms after a rainfall.

It's an industry to be tapped with, as many willing to pay small amounts for little bit of extra help, especially with the cashflow and advertising. Being known and 10% sales increase is already a thankful situation for them, with just an investment of RM100. Small but in volumes.

Anyway, that is one thing I got to research these few days before my deadline with MAB and MMP Com for the press media.

Penat siot!

Happy new year!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Aku Dah Penat

Really, the season holidays gets to everyone especially when the gloomy economy outlook throughout. Think of it as people getting the pink slip during Hari Raya holidays or the Chinese New Year. Bad news is, Malaysia is getting the start of the brunt of the economic crisis.

Today, Western Digital announced they will shut down their Sarawak plant and letting go about 1200 workers there and this was done without any warnings to the Industrial Relations Department. But in light of things, it's going to get far worse. One thing though, why don't let go of all those foreign workers and illegals instead of getting locals?

The place I work here in Kuala Pilah (the main plant) is located at the Small Medium Enterprise light industry area is located in the rural areas, 40km off Seremban en route to Kuantan bypass had seen influx of people asking about for vacancies.Among the list of prospectors are university graduates whom either looking for work or being short listed for retrenchment.

One of the sad news I got a few days back was the imminent retrenchment of contract and outsourced workers in the telecommunications industry. Namely due to the poor performance during the year, reliable sources within the HR dept concluded that over 40,000 workers at both TM and Time will be forced to let go of their jobs, namely call centers and non essential personnel. I mean, is it that bad that the government dare not admit? Had it not be for our agricultural industry and the growth in that industry, we will be in more serious threat to the economic sense.

Singapore has decided that it's time to restart all projects, rebuilding , getting the money into the cycle, with costs lower than ever. Malaysia on the other hand is cutting back, projects getting shelved and more homes get abandoned by their developers. The project off Jalan Pekeliling where the Jalan Pahang roundabout it had been abandoned for more than a decade, and same as the one off the NPE where the USJ outskirts end. Where is this going, I don't know but if one is not choosy, one will get some work to pay bills, even though how small the amount is.

True to the words, our locals are just plain lazy. They lack discipline and like to give excuses. This is when times are good, but with times now so bad, that even a basic salary of RM350 +++ will have graduates applying for the job of a factory hand.Some gave themselves excuses and get paid just that, and some who does work at full term, gets a salary double their basic, as attendance allowances and such are part and parcel of factory life. You get paid by the hour. I learn that lesson when I was in the UK, and now the practice has begun here.

I just hope that we don't have that many people being sacked at one go....just hope..but anything can happen.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Raya Eidul Adha, Holidays....

It all comes to one thing, bad economy. Poor action my the Malaysian Govt not to reduce the price of fuel by 40sen instead of just 10sen makes things bad. But the relationship of Tolls is getting on my nerves. Every holiday, the toll roads are packed up to the brim. It's bad, and today I was stuck in the rush, whilst getting my deliveries up.

Singapore, notorious for being heavy handed defused the tension by getting rid of the tolls which causes so much agony on eve of public holidays. Come on people, the toll concessionaires already made tons of money already and even Che Det admitted that he made a serious judgment in signing off the concessions. I'm not brainy enough to say that, but it's always that tolls,and the consumer associations making fuss and giving the public more trouble, by suggesting fines for 4th rear passengers etc.

I remember back then, that we as Singaporeans packed the seven of us in a cranny old Datsun 120Y which would never pass the MOT, without belts and likewise, the lack of accident. Hot headed drivers and bad road conditions cause most of the accidents and deaths, not plain vehicular safety. Smoke from lorries and loads of dirty roads lined with gravel even on the metropolitan roads of Kuala Lumpur cause alot of accidents involving motorcyclists, not plainly because of their bad riding. It's like crossing a minefield every day on Malaysian roads, and thus why these riders ride fast so their time on the street is drastically reduced.

I hate to see any more deaths on the upcoming Ops Sikap. It's sad to see someone arrive in a body bag.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Happy birthday little one...

Well,this is the 4th birthday for my little Angel of Joy.. Athira and despite of things to be..I am not sure if I can make it back for her birthday.



Well, I do remember she likes to play at the merry go round on the horse, on Genting Highland and despite my plans..I have to shelve em for the moment as costs and economic means are right now not justifiable.

Anyway, Happy birthday little one. Miss you.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

HBOS merger with Lloyds TSB, what it means to you

Halifax Bank of Scotland, the oldest bank in Britain is going to be merged into conservative Lloyds TSB, which means the biggest British Bank in history. Under which many things have to change, and of which these are the things you need to know.

Bank of Scotland notes (aka Scottish Banknotes) will now cease to exist if things are done the Lloyds TSB way. Which means, former notes of Hamilton , British Linen and other old banks and brands which Bank of Scotland (aka Banc Hal Alba in Gaelic) took over many years back will now change. I am not been briefed on the changes.

Sainsbury's joint venture with BOS known as SAINSBURYS BANK will also change, as BOS 50% holding and licensing will then be transferred to the new entity by LTSB. In actual fact, TSB took over Lloyds and well, we just see how it goes.

Intelligence Finance (IF.COM) and Midland Shires will also cease to exist. Internal sources said that savers of these brands of Halifax will then be changed over.

Existing customers with Bank of Scotland who just got familiarised with the Halifax's Society Roll 8 digit numbers (D/ (or coded 4) for current, 2/ for savings, 14/ for pensions, etc which can be known on your debit card 4917xx4x-xxxx-xxxx) will then be totally changed over to the LTSB system of just plain sort code and account number.

E-Savers, coded 11-18-11 (2/) will change to the new format. As for ISAs , TESSA and Cash ISA / Mini etc, will also change to the new system. Just forget the old Roll Numbering. This is unless the acct is opened at the local branch.

Is your money safe?
Plainly, I have the greatest clue here. Sources say that the currency notes by HBOS will be useless. So EXCHANGE FOR ENGLISH NOTES ASAP. Clysdale Bank Notes is still good even though it uses HBOS as it clearing agency. Royal Bank of Scotland notes are still legal tender despite buying over ABN AMRO Asia Pacific Region.

Financial Protection by the FSA covers only 35,000 quid per person, irregardless of your number of accounts. So if you have a good sense of money in the Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Intelligent Finance, Midland Shires and the like, take them out NOW! Includes any ISA and SHARE BASED. You can top up share holdings, but it's your call, if you are gutsy enough.

What it means is,if you have money stashed out over 100k, you are a sitting duck! 10k is a good safe bet on each bank, namely Barclays, RBS Group (includes NATWEST ,Ulster etc etc), Clysdale Bank, HSBC (Try to avoid as it's partly to blame for Merrill Lynch fiasco, main shareholder)

Nationwide is a 50/50 bet, and ABBEY is now part of Santander group, the flame as they call it. So Alliance & Leicester (GIROBANK) is about to be acquired by them, so stay away from A&L!!

Building societies like Saffron Walden, West Bromwich, Kent Reliance are so far safe as they only lend to what they have. ISA rates are not brilliant but they are safe. The Co-op Bank is kind of a hit and miss now.This is due to the Travel Industry in shambles, and the sales been hit hard at their stores.

Islamic Bank of Great Britain (Islamic-Bank.com) is another source of putting your money in. Backed by many great governments and it's based on Halal Concept. The Islamic Banking sector is not even hit during this crisis as they don't borrow from another bank to make money out of their transactions.

So I have started my run off the bank. Mortgage wise, try the alternative. It's all subject to the competition laws etc in UK, so they may be bought over by an external bank.

So watch out!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Nuffnang Server Hacked?

Yo! I was gob smacked when I saw the deadly page of WORDPRESS CONNECTION PAGE chugging out every little info of the site and the vulnerability of their database servers.

Error connecting 192.168.1.10 still don't mean people can't access your servers and it's internal run time through backdoor hacks.

Come on Tim,your admins should know better. Even with 2.6.1 x3 has it's set of flaws and now, by virtue as a WORDPRESS DEV TEAM, I have to make this findings so YOU GO AND REVAMP the frigging problem.

Sorry guys!You should pay me for finding this flaws.Just to think if someone adds a malicious code as uses this as a piggy back to access the whole sets of database servers, then the server logs will be compromised and alongside with our earnings.

No wonder some of them are earning over RM10,000 a month. I guess we know why, right guys.

Explain please.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Getting the best of your LEXMARK Ink Cartridge

Did you know that when you buy a new printer, they just leave you with just less than a quarter tank full so that you have to get their refills? Yeah. That's how things are, and for your info, it's in ALL BRANDS, some as miserable as 10%. Be it HP, Canon, Epson or even Lexmark, they are the same. It cost more to refill than to buy their original supplies.

Now that you know, did you know that EPSON is the BEST printer about? Yes, but then, when you replace the print cartridges more than 3 times, you need to replace the print head, which literally means you need to discard it as it's too expensive, thus wanting you to purchase the new one. An UPGRADE. Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is about 300 pages at 15% for most, but Lexmark gives a bit more. Since they are cheap, their refills, my God, cost a ton!!

I had to refill my LEXMARK X9350 which is an ALL IN ONE Printer / Fax / Scanner / Card Reader / WiFi / Bluetooth and PDF today and the 44XL (Extended Capacity) cost RM75. The Color costs RM90 at least from Low Yat. I did hear about people refilling HP, Canon but not LEXMARK as they are abit sneaky in the way things are done. I had to break it open, the refill I mean and then I saw what holds the ink in, just a cheap skate SPONGE!!

So SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS, now I had to do the ultimate sin, to do the REFILL using UNAUTHORISED SUPPLY. Thing is, you should stand by a set of original refill so if you screw up,you have a set just to make sure that your warranty is NOT VOID.

Things to remember:
-Ink MUST NOT RUN ON RESERVE. A few pages after low is OK, so it don't dry up.

-Find a GOOD SUPPLIER for the INK,preferably a reputable HP or Canon one.

-REPLACE the whole cartridge after 2-3 refills. Do not fill more than 80%!! The PRINT HEAD will be so useless that it's buggered. Lifetime is 3 months after you DIY!

-USE A PLASTIC / METALIC Sticker to cover the holes you made!!

Tools of the trade:
PEN KNIFE
REFILL KIT
Small screwdriver (test pen is OK!)
Something long and sharp. Bamboo sticks is NOT advisable. Palm leaf twig (LIDI PENYAPU) is best.
Cotton Buds.
Newspaper to cover the mess you about to make!
Strong TORCHLIGHT.

Steps:
1) REMOVE the plastic STICKER from the top. NOT the COVER!!

2) Drill the holes needed to refill. Black needs one. See there is a marking on the PLASTIC COVER. Drill it there, where it show something like a cooling grill. Black needs ONE. Color needs 3-6 depending on model.
This is where you need the powerful torchlight. Shine on the side to see where the partitions are. These wells are the the one you need to drill to. Its in the format of 6 wells, 3 on each side. You need to drill only 3. Normally, its two on top, and two by bottom sides (meaning two wells from bottom left and two wells from bottom right) Alignment is based on the way the sticker is placed onto from the top. There MAY or SHOULD be markings to indicate these wells.Otherwise, drill 6 holes.

3) Dip the stick to see which well to see what color it is for, it SHOULD be Magenta, Cyan and Yellow. That is where the stick and cotton bud is useful. It all looks ALMOST the same.

4) Fill about 5-10 ML. Or about 80% Too much and you will break the nozzle sensors.

5) Clean up and tape the holes AIR TIGHT. The stickers are useful.

Good Luck. This will be a great way to save your money.
Do buy originals, and keep a spare set just in case. Lexmark is hard to find the parts. Also, that don't rely on DELL as they just give them away, to make you part with your hard earned money.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Of Being Lazy, and Of Being me

Well, Beijing Olympics is here, a Good Excuse to be merry, jolly, for the 8-8-8 is like jackpot to the Chinese who are auspicious about everything. For me, it's another week of working hard that I have no frigging time to update all my 72 blogs! And not to say I forgotten about paid posts that I missed many work set out for me.

It's not being lazy, funds are a little short as things are more costly now, that I lost about 20 of my domains which I did not renew. Some were poor investments so I don't care much.And not to mention that it's hell for the past weeks.

Anyway, that's being me.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Of Biscuits and Blogs

Well, funny with the Malaysian Broadband, it's never reliable in huge cities like Kuala Lumpur where they even boast 4G technology when they can't even sort off the teething issues with their 2G voice calls, 3G Celcom Broadband sluggishness or the Maxis Broadband unavailability of over 5 meters high due to many silly reasons. Not to mention that idiotic TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD landline contractors are just like cowboys, doing things as they like.

Well, which comes to the reason that I am using a BISKUT JULIE can of love letters to boost my capacity with not even single bar on 3G or 3.5G+ CELCOM Broadband (forget MAXIS or DIGI HSDPA aka 3.5G aka WCDMA) which basically works like your silly TV aerial where you must see the transmitter and be near as you can (and die of radiation poisoning in the meantime) and in essence, if the transceiver tower gets your signal out, you are good, as it blasts as much as needed to get through to you.

Which is like what you hear on Rocket Science, Brainiac Science Abuse right??

Of which, I've been reading the steady flow of paid blogging (at high pricing of $100 onwards) for page rank 3 and up, since Google themselves are going to the punchline.

I just don't get that..are Google going to stoop as low as Ted Murphy or what? Or are they buying Paid Posting out? Who knows. Those with Page Rank and dedicated traffic enjoys the moolah.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Drugs Song



This is funny, for medical students, this hymn is a good way to remind themselves of the base medicine.
Notes and stuff courtesy of Amateur Transplants and go get their CD (even when they earn more than singing)

Friday, May 23, 2008

Dead or Alive

Something is really amiss with me these days as I am getting wierd dreams of being run over by a high speed tanker trunk and me...in a rickety car.

It's really giving me day mares as these are when I take a nap during my long tiring day at work, working from 8am to extremely dead hours of the morning, 2-3am and then still having to head to work to enter some details or so, plus the 3G Internet is frigging unstable at times.

Whatever the issue it, I better talk about it, since one of these days, I may be in one, with long drives, and odd hours, thus why now I'm insisting on working in pairs, since when I'm too knackers, I need a break.

Boss, mind you seeing this, because, safety is also an issue here.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Using the white balance feature in a digital camera

The White Balance feature on the DSLR Cameras literally means to make it more white or dark, something like the contrast and brightness feature on our TV Box. Also denoted as WB, it actually has many usage for the avid novice photographer.Let's understand how it works.

The White Balance is used to determine the scenario the picture is taken, from Bright Daylight, to Cloudy to Shade to Orange / Yellow Light to florescent light to Flash Mode and to custom Mode.

It is also used alongside with the AV Value and without which the White Balance is useless.
The AV is set at (0) as center reference point without adding or reducing the brightness of the photograph. It has values from -2,-1, 0 ,+1,+2 subdivided into further quarters for custom adjustment.

Here is a senario: Imagine you are taking a picture of the street party you just came past, and it's all under Incandescent Light or Yellow Orange Street Lamp. The people are moving and you don't have a steady hand. The Lighting is great to the naked eye, without the need of the flash,and you set it to the AV feature.

Snap One: Picture is set at White Balance Yellow Light. Comes out Dull. Some of the actions are blurred as people are moving. Your shutter takes about more than a second to snap the photograph. That is the typical photograph you get with Standard Orange Lamp

Friday, March 28, 2008

Mega Memory!

Mega Memory Cards are what deemed by the industry memory Cards exceeding 512 Megabytes in space capacity, and with prices of memory becoming ever so cheap as how prices of cameras too. 10 years ago, a 32 Megabytes card is deem the biggest about costing over $700 with proprietary usage with Sony or Fuji XD cards.

Let's start with the CON first.

Memory cards have many formats. Knowns commonly as Compact Format CF, eXtended Definition XD by Fuji, Memory Stick by Sony and Secure Data or SD . Most common in cameras nowadays are CF or SD cards as they are very cheap, too good to be true. Some are offered at $200 for a 8 Gigabyte Card but as you might think, it may be too good to be true.

Memory cards have speeds too, just as how RAM are. Remember the days that ram are clocked at 100,90,80,70,60 milliseconds? It's the same aspect to how one would rate a CD ROM Drive at how many X's it has for the read / write capacity. Memory cards basically run at a lowest speed of about 1X of the CDROM Format, which is 150kilobits per second compared to the professional end of 8 Gigabyte Memory card for about $1100 which is called Extreme 4 format, as it clocks about 15-30 Megabytes a second compared to the 8-10 Megabits per second for a Extreme 3 costing about $900 instead. In contrast, a cheapo memory card used for the mobile phone / cellphone or PDA can take these cheap memory cards as their data bus are about 100megahertz (100Mhz) a second, which means it's fine for low end usage, just as how you compare speed of USB1.1 and USB2.0 which limits to 1.3Mbps and 480Mbps respectively.

When you have a good and quick memory card, with loads of space, you tend to overdo yourself, snapping as much pictures as possible,but forgetting that after you upload then, you have to do some sort of editing like modifications to the contrast, hue, pitch or what we call them photoshopping or Picasa-ing for the novice entry level.

My wife is a guilty of that, and after a day of photo shoots, she will be cussing and swearing about her load of photos to modify, and on the standard MEDIUM SIZED 1500 x 2500 pixels image, a 4 GB card can take about 3200 photos, and with a DSLR camera, you get to empty your battery pack first before you run out of memory. Trust me on that one.

Now for the PRO.

As I said, space and Speed is the essence. I use a Canon EOS 400D with shutter shoot of 3 frames a second and a trigger hold of 30 seconds, meaning I can snap at a go about 90 photos without the need to stop and look. Just as an automatic rifle would do. This is a 10.1 Megapixel camera with 17-200mm telephoto lens with Wide Angle added to it. So the base unit cost me et. al about $5000! The lens cost me more than the camera itself!

So, with 90 photos to load from the buffer to the card, it means the cache memory in the camera (64MB I think) has to be able to access the memory card quickly, and only Extreme 3 versions are capable to do so. And SD cards don't have this speeds yet, so thus why professionals and paparazzi all uses quick memory cards.

Another issue is when you already loaded up, you can just offload them to your computer just as quick, compared to a slower card. With a 4GB Card like I am using, it's as if unloading the whole DVD to the PC in 3 minutes or less compared to the Cheapo Brands taking as long as 15 minutes. It's the databus that is capable of loading quickly, but also, that your hard drive in the PC must be equally quick.

One great advantage when you have mega memory cards is that you tend not to run out of space. It's like you have a good photo opportunity like some celebrity in town and you so happen to be there, of course you want to be THE GUY to be able to take that shot.

There are many Pro than con in the usage of mega memory cards for photography, but I too use a huge memory card , the Micro SD for my Motorola Cellphone, which is used for my MP3 player. Cool huh? Oh yeah, if you use good ones, you don't need them DVDRAM discs for your Camcorder, just the memory stick will do just fine. It's either that or the Hard Disc Drive format.

But I will surely invest in an Extreme 4 (or Extreme 3 at the very least) for my usage.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Banks - Are they a good buy right now?

During these days, bank stocks are coming at a cheap deal, especially with the economic crunch that have engulfed the regions and the American market. All these sentiments cause a knock on effect across the board be it on the NYSE Main Board or Dow Jones Index or London Stock Exchange par to the Financial Times Index or you are a trader in Singapore or Malaysia or even Hong Kong, stocks are plummeting as far as 34% over the last 30 days.

I am a small time buyer, not willing to risk everything on the expensive stocks pegged to the index as each stock cost at least in the double digits, tens of dollars or some costing over the hundred dollar mark each. Any changes in the sentiments will cause me to loose a chunk of money. However, it is the best time to pick out the ripe stocks for keep sake, as the dollar slide against the other currencies and the index are dipping as gradual as possible.

Take for example Malayan Banking Berhad, aka May Bank in Malaysia, one of the oldest and biggest bank in the South East Asia market, as old as Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation HSBC and at par even with London Based Standard Chartered Bank aka StanChart. They announced yesterday that they are acquiring Bank International Indonesia BII for US$2.1 Billion from Singapore Government's Investment Arm Temasek Holdings making them the biggest bank in the South East Asia. Does that mean it is going up? Supposingly. However, due to poor market sentiments today and the fact that the bank will be using up all their financial backing to purchase the other entity sent the trigger signals today creating a landslide of more than 10.6% dive in it's value. The bank has to hold at least $2.3 Billion in cash for their Singapore Based license as they are the Foreign Local Bank, just like Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation OCBC and the United Overseas Bank UOB Group in Malaysia.

So, is it a good buy? Yes, as the banks are stable here, they will call for dividends and with projections issued out this year, it calls on profits over $1.17 Billion before tax and even when the prices dip a little bit, you should buy more to cover your positions and wait for your bonus issues. As for American Banks, they are over priced too much and they should dip another 12 - 22% before I call it a worthy price, as they are suffering as what the Dot Com are facing 10 years back, with over inflated prices. Returns of the IRA and CD are not working out well, so it's time to dip into those funds and liquidate them, going for gold and overseas financial stocks like Halifax Bank of Scotland HBOS or HSBC or even Malaysian and Singapore stocks. They kept on merging and going into alliances so it's the best time to buy as US Dollar is losing their par value.

Good Hunting

Useless Money

It seems that Singapore is up to their old tricks again with the money printed with the words KF on the top right hand corner and that have seem to hurt the confidence in the currency as local banks have not been careful enough to pass through these mutilated notes. To many mutilated notes carry no value, but to some, these are a gem to many philatelist and currency collectors as mutilated notes fetch high value.

Take a good example are replacement series notes, like the Z series in Singapore and Malaysia or the CB issue in the US where these are not yet in circulation, unless by virtue of a gazette or a batch of currency was defaced while in print, which was detected and exchanged with a replacement note.

I am an avid collector of currency and among those 'useless' currencies include the recalled RM1000 and RM10,000 (seribu ringgit and the sepuluh ribu ringgit) notes along with the RM500 note which have been declared no-value after the currency crisis to defray any currency being smuggled out in huge quantities.

Likewise, in Singapore, the ancient S$20 and the S$25 have disappeared from circulation other than an out of the blue commemorative issue, like the recent golden issue of the $25 and the $50. Likewise, Malaysia have wiped off the RM20 note from circulation totally.

One thing though, a RM1000 note in good condition fetch as much as US$4500 as the rarity of the currency is now as rare as a penny black stamp.Just like the S$25 Orchid series fetch as much as 10 times as much as the face value.

So, next time you think you have useless currency, it may be worth far off.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Banned again?

Well,this time, it seems that this blog is banned on Nuffnang Innit System that I cannot place up any of my post there .

Which does not matter much as I am getting a nice trickle of traffic from those readers of Helium which loved our network of sites. And I am getting my own little scandal up, which is compliments of Ali Baba whom are driving myself and the network about 30,000 hits an hour, which is not that heavy.

Anyway, like I said, anyone can do anything and to members of Digital Point , I welcome you.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

No Punishment for Mukhriz

This just came in as I was talking about the new Parliamentary Line-Up of the Barisan National Cabinet in Malaysia.

Mukhriz Mahathir, Son of Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Muhammed got a little reprieve from UMNO for his letter to the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (PAK LAH) calling for his resignation. This may be a tasteful resolution to the action he made but sources indicate that the remarks made and his defiant stand of his own thoughts made the council more jittery of the coming days, with BN holding a 28 seat majority of the 222 Parliamentary Seats in Government.

What is more, 'Big Mouth' Shahrizat, former Women Affairs Minister is back in politics, with the special appointment as an adviser to Pak Lah. All the more that Bloggers will get more cynical and lewd and fiery speeches of hers without any bearing or though of the repercussions to the communities at all. She already lost, with Samy Vellu along side, and what like others, should just be honourable enough to sit it out and accept the fate of the hatred she caused with the constituents and citizens alike.

MITI honcho Rafidah Aziz also came short as she is being anybody in the Cabinet after her fiasco of the vehicular problems on the AP or Approved Permits many years back which is still a recurring issue.

Information Minister is now headed by Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek which got his whole rap sheet full after the Police Lock-up Video Telanjang Scandal after his harsh words on the opposition MP Theresa Kok for mentioning this issue in Parliament. We just hope he is not stupid enough to be another victim of the New Media Political Tsunami tremors which resulted in many casualties including Sabahan Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman refused her Deputy Minister's post. Sources do indicate that the PKR is trying to woo over the Sabahan and Sarawakian political parties to switch sides in exchange for some favourable treatment and concessions to ease the problems and plights of the Pra-Bumi Aboriginal Communities in the Rural Areas.

And here are the full line up by Pak Lah:

Prime Minister: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Deputy Prime Minister: Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak

1. Prime Minister's Department
Ministers
i. Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok (UPKO Sabah Penampang)
ii. Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi: (Umno Perak Bagan Datuk)
iii. (Sen) Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim: Justice & Judiciary Reforms (Umno Kelantan Ex-Kota Baru)
iv. (Sen) Datuk Amirsham Aziz: Economic Planning Unit (Maybank CEO)
v. Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz: Parliament (Umno Perak Padang Rengas)

Deputy Ministers
i. Datuk Johari Baharum (Umno Kedah Kubang Pasu)
ii. (Sen) Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim (Umno Kedah Ex-Baling)
iii. S. K. Devamany (MIC Pahang Cameron Highlands)
iv. Datuk Hasan Malek (Umno Negri Sembilan Kuala Pilah)

2. Ministry of Agriculture & Agro-Based Industry
Minister: Datuk Mustapa Mohamed (Umno Kelantan Jeli)
Deputy: Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim (PBB Sarawak Batang Lupar)

3. Ministry of Unity, Arts & Culture
Minister: Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal (Umno Sabah Semporna)
Deputy: Teng Boon Soon (MCA Johor Tebrau)

4. Ministry of Defence
Minister: Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak (Umno Pahang Pekan)
Deputy: Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop (Umno Malacca Masjid Tanah)

5. Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs
Minister: Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad (Umno Johor Johor Baru)
Deputy: Jelaing Mersat (SPDP Sarawak Saratok)

6. Ministry of Education
Minister: Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein (Umno Johor Sembrong)
Deputy: Datuk Wee Ka Siong (MCA Johor Air Hitam)
Deputy: Datuk Razali Ismail (Umno Terengganu Kuala Terengganu)

7. Ministry of Energy, Water & Communications
Minister: Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor (Umno Negri Sembilan Tampin)
Deputy: Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum (PRS Sarawak Julau)

8. Ministry of Entrepreneur & Co-operative Development
Minister: Datuk Noh Omar (Selangor Umno Tanjung Karang)
Deputy: Saifuddin Abdullah (Umno Pahang Temerloh)

9. Ministry of Federal Territories
Minister: Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique (Umno FT Setiawangsa )
Deputy: Datuk M. Saravanan (MIC Perak Tapah)

10. Ministry of Finance
Minister: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Umno Penang Kepala Batas)
2nd Minister: Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (Umno Penang Tasek Gelugor)
Deputy: Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah (Umno Perak Tambun)
Deputy: Datuk Kong Cho Ha (MCA Perak Lumut)

11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister: Datuk Seri Rais Yatim (Umno Negri Sembilan Jelebu)
Deputy: Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar (Umno Pahang Jerantut)

12. Ministry of Health
Minister: Datuk Liow Tiong Lai (MCA Pahang Bentong)
Deputy: Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad (Umno Johor Mersing)

13. Ministry of Higher Education
Minister: Datuk Khaled Nordin (Umno Johor Pasir Gudang)
Deputy: Hou Kok Chung (MCA Johor Kluang)
Deputy: Datuk Idris Harun (Umno Malacca Tanjung Batu)

14. Ministry of Housing & Local Government
Minister: Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (MCA Perak Tanjung Malim)
Deputy: Datuk Robert Lau (SUPP Sarawak Sibu)
Deputy: Datuk Hamzah Zainudin (Umno Perak Larut)

15. Ministry of Human Resources
Minister: Datuk S. Subramaniam (MIC Johor Segamat)
Deputy: Datuk Noraini Ahmad (Umno Johor Parit Sulong)

16. Ministry of Information
Minister: Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek (Umno Terengganu Kemaman)
Deputy: Datuk Tan Lian Hoe (Gerakan Perak Grik)

17. Ministry of Internal Security & Home Affairs
Minister: Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Umno Johor Kota Tinggi)
Deputy: Datuk Chor Chee Heung (MCA Kedah Alor Star)
Deputy: (Sen) Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh (Umno Terengganu)

18. Ministry of International Trade & Industry
Minister: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (Umno Johor Pagoh)
Deputy: Datuk Liew Vui Keong (LDP Sabah Sandakan)
Deputy: Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan (PRS Sabah Baram)

19. Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment
Minister: Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas (PBB Sarawak Betong)
Deputy: Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (Umno Sabah Kalabakan)

20. Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities
Minister: Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui (SUPP Sarawak Miri)
Deputy: (Sen) A. Kohilan Pillay (Gerakan Selangor)

21. Ministry of Rural & Regional Development
Minister: (Sen) Tan Sri Muhammad Mohd Taib (Umno Selangor)
Deputy: Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (PRS Sabah Pensiangan)
Deputy: Joseph Entulu (SPDP Sarawak Selangau)

22. Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovations
Minister: Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili (PBS Sabah Kota Marudu)
Deputy: Datuk Fadillah Yusof (PBB Sarawak Petra Jaya)

23. Ministry of Tourism
Minister: Datuk Azalina Othman Said (Umno Johor Senggarang)
Deputy: Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib (PBB Sarawak Kota Samarahan)

24. Ministry of Transport
Minister: Datuk Ong Tee Keat (MCA Selangor Pandan)
Deputy: Datuk Anifah Aman (Umno Sabah Kimanis)

25. Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development
Minister: Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen (MCA Pahang Raub)
Deputy: Senator Noriah Kasnon (Umno Selangor)

26. Ministry of Works
Minister: Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Umno Selangor Sepang)
Deputy: Datuk Yong Khoon Seng (SUPP Sarawak Stampin)

27. Ministry of Youth & Sports
Minister: Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob (Umno Pahang Bera)
Deputy: Wee Jeck Seng (MCA Johor Tanjung Piai)

So, what does it mean for the investor and corporate standing? I don't want to comment yet. It's too hectic with the American Scandals and the Societe Generale $1.7Billion fraud case.But it's a good time to buy stocks!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Happiest day of my life.

One of those things that make you happy is when things turn out not as what you have intended it to be, especially for me when I was expecting this little bunch of glory Here comes the Princess Tia that have popped into my world and derailed many of my plans for the year. Basically what happened was she thought she wanted to have a little look see, and as cheeky as a monkey she is to me, she stretched herself way too wide, (like always and as always here,extending her realm) and caused mass hysteria to her mom on the 19th November in the mid afternoon, which her mom thought she was having miscarriage as there was quite a substantial amount of fluid and blood.

So, her mom had to be kept in the Delivery Suite, but hey..this little gal decided otherwise, felt it was NOT COLD ENOUGH to come out and wreck more havoc, Cheeky Little Tia and played more nasty jokes on her mom, till it was told that on the 22nd November, she would be discharged and FORCIBLY INDUCED LABOUR if she does not want to come out and play after 3 days or so. So mom was happy, at least she got time to go buy some preparations for this little girl's arrival into the chilly world. It was chilly and like always as how she is now, without the need or use of brute over steering thundering commanding voice, she would not heed it, just as nasty and hard headed as her dad while in the army. So, mom, took a cab home, and went to High Street Gillingham which was having a day market, tried to get some stuff, like cot , clothes and the like and seems this little cunning girl had her own plans. Gave her mom more pain and bleed her mom off. So off to the A & E again! I just think, after all these while, she is kind of picky in what she wants in life, which means no plain colored clothing, only bright colorful ones or pink and she had no worries of having a Hi-Vis Jacket as a fashion statement.

Mom got into more pain. Mom could not be stung by the Vampires. IV Lines could not be fixed because of running veins and even 6 surgeons failed to do so, till we decided my hard headed way, it's either the feet or the neck, and poor her, screaming all way,without much help from the laughing gas (Nitrous Oxide aka NOX) as an anesthesia. It's when you see that you can't help much makes you snap. I did snap and I thought my giving her shock technique , ie diverting her attention of her misery to another of lower threshold would work, just as you do to a person in hysteria but it back fired on me. Even till now I am regretting it.

The labor was fast and swift as she played no more. Tired I suppose, but somehow or rather I swore that she popped her head out about 10 minutes to midnight as I had to clean up her little mess which she love to do, ie coiling herself in something, and in this case her neck with her umbrical cord which caused many deaths in new born or childbirth.Under the UV Lights, in SCBU Oliver Fisher, Medway Maritime Honey, I am truly sorry from all these, and that I regret for what it is now. I love this little bundle of joy as much as I love you. My love for this little girl is none that can surpass itself, but being a parent and a husband it is not as easy as I could just say it out.

Tia as she loves to pose

How I love her much and that I just hope I could do more, to the extent of putting down my own life for her, as all I wanted was a family. She gave me more than I could imagine, though the negative is far outweighed by her good charms and that she knew that she can always manipulate her dad, knowing he was the one whom asked for her.

Us,together

It is so far well worth it. Her stinky mess, and other things she can think of, is something or somewhat a small cost for the joy and happy moments in my life.

Proud to welcome Princess Athira 'Le Tun King Tia' Azrin, who is born on 23 Nov 2004 at 00.03 Hours. Yeah..nice timing Right?

Tia at 9 Months


Happy - Happy Moments


Due to the nature of the video, please contact me directly for the feed.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Express Food: Mussels in Tom Yum Soup

Thai Mussels are far different than that of farmed ones off the Scottish Coast or the French Waterways. Contrary to which, in England, many of these mussels are farmed near fresh waterways which are a reason of the white flesh compared to the crimson orange flesh found in the Thai Mussels.

Contrary to many, the seed mussels are normally smuggled from Malaysia due to the genetic strain that make them grow very big in a short period of time, and it's more fleshy and chewy compared to their smaller European cousin. Wild ones are also found in the market by means of their size being smaller and a whole lot dirtier as they tend to live near muddy delta or mouth of the river leading to the sea as they get plenty of nutrients from the mud and sludge discharged up river.

One recipe that people don't try in London is Tom Yam based soup with purely mussels to it. It's quite straight forward , which I found them very popular near Songkha and Pattani regions and eaten / drank with either rice noodles or a bowl of rice. Pretty simple to cook but do keep in mind that the preparation is a bit messy.

Tools Needed:

Chopper
Pair of Scissors
Short Knife
Large Wok / POT (Stock Pot preferred)
Large Strainer

Ingredients

Lemon Grass (2 stalks)
Kafir Lime Leaves (3 - 4 leaves)
Salt
Small Lime ( a few )
Onions (3 Large ones, Sliced/chopped)
Shallots ( a handful, chopped)
Garlic (half a clove)
Ginger
Some cooking oil
TOM YAM PASTE (I'll give you the recipe if you want to make it on your own)

Rice, cook to your preference .Easiest is to rinse TWICE and cook in a Rice cooker with 1:1 ratio (well a tiny bit more water is OK) till it raised up. A cup of rice feeds 2 persons.

Fresh Live Mussels (a KG or 2, which becomes about a pint of flesh for every 2 KG)


Preparation Step:
RINSE THE MUSSELS THOROUGHLY!Dunk them in your sink and rinse a few time to get any river sediments trapped in between out. Soak them in your basin with SALT WATER. This allows you to know if there are any dead ones about. Discard the dead ones.

Pull , Yank and Snip off any green string (kelp etc) attached to the mussels.

Slice and dice the onions,shallots,garlic. Use a cleaver. It's simpler.
Smack the base of the Lemon Grass a few times.
Slice some Ginger.


Cooking it:

Drain and Pour the mussels to the stock pot. Place some salt (5 grams) with some onions and garlic with the Ginger in the BASE to get rid of any Organic Odor it might bring back.

Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, till you see the bulk of them open up. That means THEY ARE SEMI COOKED.

SHUT the flame and pour out the Mussels into a drainer. It will make them easier to cook later on. Remove the shells and keep the little bit of the stock base (about a cup) for your tom yam soup.



Souping it:
Saute the chopped garlic,ginger,shallots on about 3 tablespoon of oil over medium heat till slightly brown. Pour in the stock base from the mussels and add more water if necessary.Dunk the Tom Yam Paste (I think it's 3-4 tablespoons for every 500ML, or more to your taste) with the sliced onions and lemon grass and mix them well, with some salt.

Adjust according to your liking.

If you like your mussels shrunk and fully cooked (for Hepatitis B sufferers) please add your mussels to the boiling soup and cover for a minute,then serve. Otherwise, add soup to the bowl of mussels you prepared earlier on.

Then wait for a minute and eat with the rice.
Enjoy!

It's making me very hungry right now.
Adapted from Kak Mar's Kitchen at http://www.MarlindaRadzi.com

Time to cook: 5 Minutes!
Time to Prepare: 15-30 minutes

Depending on the condition of the mussels and how fast you do stuff, or if you are a person who don't care much of the cleanliness (like me) will just rinse the mussels twice, Steam the mussels and while it's cooking, make the other tom yam soup by dunking everything in, and pouring the soup (use water) and then pour the whole soup to the mussels, with shells in them. It is actually tastier.It's how I did it in my University Days *(Even while as a Post Grad)

Best regards and good luck.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Allah laughs at you!

I have been asking Google for the functionality to disallow negative keywords or phrases to show on my ads and they have been very much dragging their feet.

First off, the porn ads that are showing in them, showing words like Bogel and such for their Video Sharing site, which is an adult site.

Now...I am getting fed up when they try to get us pissed off!

allah-laughs.jpg

See this?! Please.. help me by supporting my petition against vulgar keywords in Google Adsense.

What you can do? You can write up anything about this, email to google by sending a mail to adsense-support at Google.com and protest against these kind of sedicious posts.

You can also print this off and send it to Prime Minister (Yes..Mr Abdullah Badawi) to censor or ban these people and their servers along with their Service Providers.

Please, if this was YOUR RELIGION they talk about, you will be pissed. You can also hit them at their pockets by try to get their adsense account depleted.

Please...do your part.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

2008 Economic Outlook?

Economics is about how much the world is willing to spend and how money is recycled, the basis of the Ecology of Money.Being 2008 an Election Year, market sentiments are not that favorable as before.As we speak today Monday 10th March 2008, the world economies are going into a recession, started off by the poor mortgage payments in the US in mid 2007, followed by the Northern Rock financial fiasco in United Kingdom which caused the worst run on the banking industry in the history of Great Britain, and after that, more banks signaled more troubles ahead with Societe Generale in France had massive losses which looked like another Barings Bank in the making.

Sentiments like these with the poor support of the current political situations like the poor support of the US President George W Bush and the legacy made things worse. The rising fears of Terrorism also caused more wide spread panics and with more recent bombings in the Hamas Controlled Palestinian Territory and the never ending retaliation by the Israeli forces and American Troops makes things worse off. Support for the War on Terror and Invasion of Iraq by the coalition forces caused more headaches for the supporters. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was kicked off from his chair because of this fiasco. Protests against the current ruling parties amidst all these chaos makes investors more jittery.

However, let's look back to the recent events that caused the panic attacks in the stock markets.

1) Assasination of Former Pakistan's Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto
2) Escape of Jemaah Islamiah Terrorist leader, MAS SELAMAT KASTAWI from Singapore Prison.
3) Federal Rate Cuts
4) Poor performance of the Sub-Prime Mortgage in the US
5) Return of Former Thai Prime Minister / Billionaire Thaksin to the country
6) Disastrous political landslide in the Malaysian General Election last weekend.

Factor all these and we have trouble. Yesterday alone, the stock markets in the Asia Pacific Region suffered as much as 11% loss on the stock markets, driving prices of commodity higher on panic selling with respect to the unstable / poor majority stake in the Malaysian Government since Malaysia accounts for a big chunk of the Petroleum and Biological Oils in the world economy. Gold prices and Oil soared against the US Dollar which is depreciating against major currencies like the Pound Sterling and the Euro.

US Dollar too slide to the $1.50 threshold against the Euro and these caused more headaches for fund managers alike. How bad is the economy? It's like Soccer, the ball is round, anything can happen. My bet is, down and out.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Penang Tolls to Go!

Well, I am not sure if it's plain rumours but sources inside the Penang Bridge Management have hinted that they may be out of a job since the Penang State had a landslide victory over Barisan National, leaving Pak Lah struggling for his Parliamentary seat.

I am not sure if this is true, but didn't the Opposition Manifesto said something about getting rid of the tolls? Anyway, Penang Bridge must go, as the daily traffic snarls are all caused because of the bottleneck at the Toll Booths. Apart from that, it's really hitting our pockets hard with $7 toll, on a daily basis.

What else, Oooh..did I mention Samy Vellu is staying in MIC? Darn it. I thought he could have some pride left and just leave with some sort of dignity. Bugger.

So bloggers... can we campaign for NO MORE TOLLS?? Please!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Writing a thousand things

That is what I am doing right now, as there are so much things to do with the results of the Malaysian General Elections 2008 coming up with them losing over 3 states and almost denied a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

At least,I have something to talk about. Now I am focused on Mac and their products even though I am PC user. Well, Linux.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Why Polygamy?

"For I created Eve from the most crooked bone in Adam's Body, not to be stepped upon by Adam or Eve, but by each other, in harmony. For a woman is very much crooked, and brittle, easily broken and easily diverted or confused, only to be made straight not by means of violence but of love and care,with a huge lot of patience by Man"

That is my two cents worth of Polygamy. It is not an excuse. It is not a trick for the man to abuse the women, by marriage and divorce for Allah shuns people who divorce.

Imagine this? How many times have you seen cat fights? Women fighting each other because of one man in the new era.How many times do you see a family broken down, children in haphazard conditions because their father passed away, robbed of their love and care, and most of all, the financial and emotional support. Or a lady fancy another man who is someone's husband, eventually committing adultery and having complications like child out of wedding locks?

That is what Islam is all about. Being Charitable and care for the less fortunate, not just in financial and physical support, but emotional support.

Let's not talk about Man being unable to control their little Joystick and the lusty control for a hotter babe. That is being very chauvinist of me to speak of, but about the capacity of a man to share his capacity as a husband or more,a father to an orphan.

For once, being a man is more than just a man. A man is about being a leader and also a person who is passionate about their charges. Apart from that, alot of men, do get married to either Widows or Divorcee. Mainly because that a woman as such knew how to care much better for a man, plus that she is more experienced in bed. They tend not to make the same mistakes as what they did first time round.

Adultery is punishable by death in Islam. So the need to wear a Hijab to uphold the modesty of women does help, but not much in this new age, since the availability of pornography is rampant, and the 'cheap sale' of the women nowadays makes it worse. I remember back when I was working in an Engineering firm, that my Personal Assistant told me it is the norm to coax the boss up, in either to get promoted, to get married, or just in the bedroom to get up the boardroom. Which is shame, since she was just 19 and have a long life to go forward.

As such, it is norm to be married to another woman's husband rather than risking it all and getting a crook or an addict as a husband (of the family choosing;betrothed etc) while that man actually portray a Good image. And for the woman, it is much better to share and be at peace for the sake of the children, rather than risking it all and loosing it all, stability, love of a father for the children, and financial and emotional need. Sexually too.

Remember Solomon whom had 99 wives at one go?And the story of the Herd?

Polygamy does not mean one should just focus on the new wife or upgrade, but be fair to all, financially, emotionally and sexually. For Allah sternly warned that "the man who is not fair to his herd (of wife and kids) will find himself in shame and without any flesh on the other side (half) of his body,bare and just bones on the day of reckoning".

Being just is not easy. One can try as much as he could, but being man, he is expected to be just as much as possible; a loving father, and a darling of a husband.It is not just what the 'brother' wants but being able to satisfy all wives.. is not an easy task, especially taking care of a herd of kids.

For me..one wife and a kid is already a headache.What of two?

In itself, it is frowned upon to share the marital bed with all the wives, but each of them in a separate house and bed so that they won't clash with each other, but hoping that they can co-exist in harmony or better still..work together, taking care of each other kids, or even breastfeeding them. In the ancient times, (or even now), nursing mums are allowed in Islam for women who can't breastfeed due to health and medical reasons so that the best is given to the child/baby. Motherhood is very much looked up upon for it is a Jihad for a woman giving birth and nursing the child for 30 months (or how long she can breastfeed to the child).

>--ADDED--<


In the economic sense, the Family Unit is now being intact and thus does not become a liability to the common society by asking for assistance. In England alone, more than £750 Million was spent to help out families which are not complete, like Single Mothers, Kids without Parents, Single parent families, Child Support, Child Benefits etc.

In essence, by being a complete family, the family saves more money because they don't spend on unwanted items like psychiatric bills and medication, take outs and child care costs. On top of that, the cost of day care and baby sitter costs are avoided as the family is intact. In soothe, the parents can effectively go out to work instead of having to rely on support because of the need to pay childcare costs.

By being 100% efficient, a family unit gets more money coming into the family and the children are cared for properly.

The Singapore Government gave away $3000 for every child born to offset childcare and minding fees so that the parents can go to work . If only one parent is working, on average the income will be $1500 compared to $3000 plus for both parents, and in essence the workforce gets rid of the 40% of the non-working adult population totally contributing to over $1.9 Billion to the economy monthly which means $2.2 Billion in Taxes based on the adult population of 4.9 million residents within the City State.

Prohibition of Riba in Islam

Before I start debating on Riba, let us look into a little history of the Riba or Interest Rate Lending in the days of Christ.

Jewish communities are or have been known to be a bit cruel. In Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, Antonio is told to pay with a Pound of Flesh if he defaulted. In those days, someone who wished to borrow money, have to seek to the Loan Sharks within the Jewish Community which charges interest. If it is not bad enough, rates have been very high, chargeable by the week or even days. At one instance, if someone borrows 10 Coins, he is expected to pay 20 coins by the week end, otherwise, they will be sold as slaves. What about when someone can't pay? 20 coins become 40 coins due the week after and so forth. The interest gets bigger and eventually the borrower is engulfed in debt over a small debt of 10 coins and in those days, if you can't pay, you and your family become slaves. There is no such thing as Bankruptcy Proceedings.

Fast forward to the present day.

Someone is enticed with a credit card, with so little interest. There are hidden charges the potential customer don't know about like membership fees or late fees. He uses it. He pays his minimum payment. Hidden Charges and all adds up, for something he bought in cash, it will take him as much as 5 times the cost to repay over 32 months, taking the minimum to be 5% and the monthly rate of 1.5%. In Effect, he is actually paying just 3% or less of the principal.

What if he can't pay on time on certain period like Christmas? He gets slapped $50 late fee plus other fees. Fees adds to the interest and takes him longer.

That is why Islam prohibited Riba.

Come the Syariah way of Hire Purchase or No Interest Credit Card.

Someone wants to buy a TV from Sony. Costs $1000 in cash. The bank buys from Sony for him and charges the fee and inflation rate to the customer. If he agrees, the bank lends to him on the promise that the customer must pay say $1300 within a year. He must keep to this promise. There is a late fee as per agreed if he does that. Eventually, it cost him less to be on the Syariah method.

It's the same principle as a pawn broker. You want cash, you send something to the uncle for safekeeping as security.It's like a mortgage. When you have the money, you get your goods back plus a certain rate or fee you have to pay as per agreement. Think as it as safe deposit box rental.

It is actually to help business grow faster with their cashflow and not be ridden with bad debts or run away customers. To the customer, it protects their interest by not having run away fees and derail the economics of life.

In Islam, part of the Zakat or Tithes are set aside to assist people to get out of debt. That is like an insurance policy for everyone and helps the fluid movement of money within the community.

In Malaysia, a test case of a fully fledged co-operative bank running on Syariah principles made over ONE BILLION RINGGIT (US Dollars 350 Million) by practicing these methods. Even in the United Kingdom, HSBC Amanah Banking made over 1 billion in Profits and hold more customers than their conventional system due to the protection offered to their customers.

"Perform your Solat (prayers) and Pay your Zakat (Taxes)"..Firman Allah.

Relaxing Singapore

Life is full of surprises and it is not easy to budget life's expectations and what the world throw at you.One thing for sure, stress is a sure killer, along side with broken heart syndrome.

I am speaking as an 'Oriental' or someone from the South East Asia. Originated from Singapore, we are a very busy bunch and even now, stress levels are getting to an all level high as children as young as 3 have been 'ordered' to be sent to schools to be educated and peer pressure even caused some children to mimic what they see on TV, Violence and Death. It is not just working 9 to 5 but it's more or less 0600 to 1900 hours ritual daily, rushing to get ready, for breakfast and to work and to complete work.

Back in my days, things are very much relaxed and slow paced, unlike now that you even rush to grab a seat on the train or even on the buses that common courtesy lacks nowadays adding to the stress level.

So how do we cope with things? Mainly, in Singapore, space is at a premium and time is of essence. We have all sorts of ways to cheer ourselves out and even the Government is helping out by utilising as much space as possible like creating parks and open air spaces, playgrounds and fitness corners and many more. Even the void decks under the flats are put to good use like having some game corners, a place where people can meet and have celebrations like weddings or even funeral wakes.

Singapore is known for their clean country and rigid rules. Placing fitness and wellness is the core essence to any Singaporean. Men have to serve National Service for 2 years in either the Military or the Civil Forces like the Police, Marine, Civil Defense, Fire Brigade and Civil Services.

If it is not enough, the men have to ensure they are in fit condition as a reservist and attend Individual Personal Physical-Fitness Training Test or IPPT Test annually and report for active duty for 3 weeks every year for 13 years or till they are 65. To the normal person who don't find it amusing enough, it is actually more or less a time for the guys to get away from the wifes and the normal chores ,with full pay that is, and get around with old friends, for 3 weeks, putting their lives with each other, living the good old days, and well, have fun.

Singaporean Forces are nown to call this weeks of R&R or Rest and Recreation because, normally it would be more or less guys' night out and ...deployment overseas with no kids in tow. Meeting old friends, talking 'cock' , singing songs and playing mahjong is all part of the agenda. Forget Ranks and Designation or even your job titles. In the Army, you may be the Driver but your Superior is actually ...well,your storeman? And in real life, you are his boss. Well, Army rations now consist of McDonalds, Domino Pizza and KFC for the quick reservist, known to swindle their way out of everything. Heck, even in jungle training in middle of Borneo , instead of carrying heavy AM Radio sets, they would normally carry some sort of satellite phone and a tiny 150 mile range walkie talkie. That is what you get from Conscripted Forces.

Another thing Singaporeans do love to do to relax themselves ...is actually to EAT. Really eat. Food outlets in Singapore run 24/7. Even McDonalds are 24-7 round the clock, DELIVERED FREE! Being a cosmopolitan city where things don't sleep, and a financial hub, Singaporeans turn to the core of the Human Race for some comfort. Being dominated by Chinese, they have one thing they love to practice : Dinner as a family. Sharing and caring is what Singaporeans do, even the Malay and Indian Communities. They find comfort by eating,and relaxing their minds.

Of which,the kids are another issue. Being so high tech with 108Mbps Broadband, what better way to destress and relax other than by chatting, Blogging and playing Role Playing Games across the whole country..trying to win some points and alliances. Singapore being transparent nowadays is known to have a 40% Blogging Culture where almost everyone blog, or at least read a blog. Even the Prime Minister blogs and talks about everything under the sun.

On weekends, the beaches are surely to be packed with swimmers and their families. And those who have wheels normally head up to the neighbouring country Malaysia for their food, groceries and well, some sightseeing. Domestic / Intra-Country Tourism is booming in Malaysia and Singapore because the need to relax and have fun. It's either that or the TV is another reason to relax, with over 1000 Channels on cable.

Movies too are a very popular option for some, by watching the latest movies or renting their favorites or downloading on demand (legally or pirated), plus some food to go along with it. And in the mornings, well, before going to work, some relaxed themselves by exercising at the parks, jogging or what ever, as it's very safe. And as they come back home, some wash down, relax, and head to the park to keep fit, or walk on pebbled pathways to sooth their aches (reference to acupuncture or foot reflexology) and deny the doctors of their money.

So, that's me..and it's 2100hours now..and I'm heading for dinner. Anyone care to join me?

How do you relax?

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Web presence on a shoestring budget

Setting a presence online is actually.. quite cheap. I know because I am a Micro-venture capitalist. All I do is to set a site up for a customer-cum-cash cow, ready for the milking.

Knowledge is power and Power is wealth as they say it, but it is fun to share technologies with people who don't know or are just plain arrogant about the web, namely brick-and-mortar business persons.

So, what is in my cookbook?

DOMAIN NAME
PHP 5 with all the addons
APACHE Server (linux based as it's quick to go)
MySQL with the latest patch.
Some Open Source Content Management System
Some Free Shopping Cart
Some SEO Scripting Code

And for Main Dish:

Some Banners Designed up
Some other Advertising system
Some Pay Per Click advertising...

and loads of publicity.

So, what do we do first.
1) Check for your Trade Mark or Service Mark or Product Name presence. If possible get it.
Otherwise, just sue the bugger for it.

2) Check if your company name is used on the web.
Good catchy ones (especially dictionary names) are hard to get.
CHAT.NU (CHAT NOW) was recently priced at $5,000,000!

3) See if someone cyber squatted on your names.

Costs ? :
Domain name cost about $10 annually for .COM/NET/ORG/BIZ/US
European ones cost alot more, about $20 on average.

It is a good thing to buy Chinese or Asian names too if you intend to penetrate to your potential customers.
Chinese domains cost about $10 annually whereas Singapore and others cost as low as $150!

Next in line is the Hosting.
Cheap does not mean good. For basic setup, don't you feel silly if you rent a dedicated server at the rate of about $275 a month when you can go for Shared Hosting for about $5.77 a month payable annually or Biannually upfront (I personally say 12mths is good enough)

Some provide a FREE DOMAIN for signing up. Others like GizmoNET IntraWEB offer FREE NO FRILLS HOSTING with domain registration plus a small setup fee. I personally suggest to go for POWWEB or HOSTGATOR (for month to month billing @ $10 a mth, ask for a discount coupon)

Make sure it offers Apache, PHP, MySQL (5 databases at least) and some addons like GD,CURL etc.

Now to set it up.....

You can install basic all-in-One Content Management System (CMS) like Joomla. Joomla has an add-on called Virtue Mart which is a shopping cart, with billing system all in one. It's what you need to take your online store orders. You can even process them and take payments thru PAYPAL or any Credit card processors like Google Checkout, 2CO or MoneyBookers.

It is best to download the ALL-IN-ONE package from Virtue Mart as it's all encoded already.

COST?! = FREE OPEN LICENSE.

Don't forget to setup a blog too. People, workers, customers love some juicy information from within the company. Makes it a bit more human. Search Engines love it even more!

Now, Add a banner to the site to add some extra sales or commission from sales or referrals like Aductions, etc.

Total cost so far?

1 Domain + 1 Months Hosting = $25!
Otherwise, it would be $80 annually.

Sounds good enough?

It's time to get more traffic in.What do you do?
Well, place yr URL in your business card..get your emails out etc... but then, what better way than to get information written within your blog.

Spiders look for them, and people will then search for them and pay you a visit.

I will talk about the SEO and Pay per Click in another time. Google it.

For more coupons, go to http://www.azrin.net for some exclusive coupon for hosting,domain and even toll free numbers specific to them only.

Which English?

Citizens of the World, Let it be known that computers speak ENGLISH. Well, I lived in England for the last 15 years and mind you the ENGLISH can't speak proper English, much less write it. Apparently, even those native language which are NOT English can speak,write and converse in Excellent English.

I come from Singapore, a tiny island in the South China Sea where the majority is of Chinese Ethnic race followed by the native Malays and Indian (Asian) with some other minorities. Being a tiny island of 647 square kilometers populated by 6 million people, we speak Queen's English. As how it is dictated in Oxford or Cambridge. However, likewise, we have our own 'flavor' of English too called SingLish or in our next door neighbour Malaysia called it MingLish etc.

Despite that, English is only spoken by nearly 2.6 Billion people and of that , less than 500 million speak or write American English. Just because computers were developed and invented by the Americans, does not mean everything must be created as per the whim of the American Language. However, some people may thing I am an Imperialist when I speak of the sense of the Saxon English forced their Language onto the world because the Colonists were greedy and well, plainly forced their way and way of living onto everyone, even to the sense that Slavery was rampant because of the English.

That ..is pure history and I won't want to invoke any issues here.

Issue at stake: WHAT ENGLISH.
The Answer : ANYTHING. As long as the Writer and the Community understands it, it is fine by me. Prophet Muhammad ever said that if you want to succeed in a Mission of Faith (of those Nuns and Padres, and to those Muslim Preachers too), you must follow the local method, means by means of their language or culture as long as it does not breach your faith.

So there is no point in forcing your point onto others. Some has said to me that my language is very poor because I use cos instead of cuz etc. But it's what I like. It's how I was taught. Heck even the spell check I have switched on redlined their American Slangs which I was asked
to use, as it's not grammatically correct and the spelling sucks.

As it is, You don't want to read the Translated Version of the China Straits (make up name for a News Daily) or Sin Min News when it has been translated from Mandarin to Bahasa Indonesia to English to Cantonese in Hong Kong and then quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

It is just plain silly. Point is, as long as the kid makes sense, it should work to an adult. Keep it simple.

Writing Success: How to Turn your Blog into a Citizen Journal

So you want to be a citizen reporter aka what we call in our area a KEY-POH or a Busybody. It's plain simple to become a citizen report. Tools of the trade is a keen eye for details and well, a digital camera. You don't need a fancy camera like Canon EOS 400D which cost about $2000 as it is more of a hobby, but if you want to make some decent money out of it, by selling the photos etc, it may be worth your investment.

Anyway, tools of the trade:
Computer with huge hard disk space.
Broadband Internet connection.
Digital Camera (with loads of memory)
Some skills
Some sort of dictation of chronological line of events.

Software wise:
Picassa (very important)
Photoshop ( You get some limited edition ones with your camera)
And your skills....

Server Side:
Blog Software
Photo Gallery

You may want to invest in your own domain with some decent hosting like with 1000GB space or so to stack up your photos.

Bloggers love to use Wordpress as it's very flexible and you can place up photos, slideshows etc.

Anyway, on target, Now you are setup. Snip Snap some photos and then you edit. Make it catchy and worth the thousand words.It could be anything. The Food or an accident. Since it's Election season, it's best to get snappy for the Political Elections and it's related topics.

To write a real worth someone's time article is actually harder than it looks. Just look at this place, a minimum or 350 words.

So, what can you write within the article?

You can write basically about the event, how that happen, who attended them, what characters were there, everything just as the CSI Team would have done it. It's a hard work actually but you never know if something worth reporting just happened at the right moment.

So back to the issue at hand.. what else?
Journals like Blogger is free, but you can't customise your site as much. Wordpress free edition is abit harsh on advertising so you can't get revenue from blog advertising like InLinks or Text Link Ads, but you can try.

Investing in a proper Photo Gallery is a must. Photos are huge. The bigger they are, the better the quality and resolution. Most bloggers snap at at least 1500x1500 pixels photo size with resolution of at least 3 or 5 megapixels. Yes you can use your cellphone camera but does it do the job properly?

I used many galleries, like Singapore, Gallery 2.0 and now I invested in PHP PhotoPost Pro which handles my large photos well, into a photo forum and allows people to print them too at an online shop (and allow me to get a commission)

That allows me to make thumbnails and allow me to choose the what image to resize them into to fit to my picture post in my Blog.Anyway, alot of people can say much, but for more info, you can look at this lady who writes about ...well food. ( http://www.marlindaradzi.com )

Well, Food sells better.Good luck

Allah's Attributes and it's names

I wrote this earlier today, in response to a request for some information.

Bismillah Hirahman Nirrahim.

That is a verse every Muslim is obliged to say before starting anything. Meaning in the name of Allah, The Merciful and The Compassionate. For 'Man is created to pray to me', meaning that we as human have one purpose in life, to serve.

Man is far better than Animals or the Angels for we are given the Choice of Life. Meaning we can choose what we want to do,what to eat etc, that even Jibril (Gabriel) asked Him "Oh My Lord, why did you allow Man to be the Khalifah (leader) on Earth, for that Man is created with destructive traits, that even the Mountains and the Planets don't want to carry on the burden to be your Chosen Kind?". What the angels don't know is that man, well, as mankind should be are a funny bunch. They never follow orders. They try to outperform their specifics, defy and repent.

The Wise. For He is all knowing about things that even the Angels don't know.

Only one task is given to man : PRAY TO ME. He does not want Mankind to pray 24/7 and don't eat drink and have fun, but in essence, he wants MANKIND to be THANKFUL for what is given. Give Grace to Him Almighty, and as funny as it is, God like it more when He is given more attention. Ask for You Shall Receive. The more you ask, the more you get. That in itself is a Prayer.

Don't get the misconception of Allah is the Name of God. It meant from the ancient Arabic Language means The One God. Monotheism is what it is all about, be it Muslim, Jewish and Christianity. All about ONE LORD.

God itself has mentions of His 99 other traits. Commonly known as Usma Ul Husna ( 99 Names of Allah ) , it is also that He has 20 Essential Characteristics, Commonly called part of the Istigna' and Iftiqar which in Arabic are as follows:

Wujud ( ) - Exist
Qidam ( ) -
Baqa ( ) - Eternal
Mukhalafatuhu lilhawadith ( )
Qiamuhu binafsih ( ) - Independant
Wahdaniat ( ) - The One
Qudrat ( ) - The Powerful
Iradat ( ) - Decisive
Ilmu ( ) - Knowledgeable
Hayat ( ) - Alive
Samaq ( ) - Hearing [HE Hears All]
Basar ( ) - Sees [He See All]
Kalam ( ) - Speaks
Kaunuhu qaadiran ( ) - Authoritative [In Authority]
Kaunuhu muriidan ( ) - Decisive
Kaunuhu 'aliman ( ) - Knowing [HE Knows EVERYTHING]
Kaunuhu hayyan ( ) - Alive [HE LIVES]
Kaunuhu sami'an ( ) - Listening [HE LISTENS]
Kaunuhu basiiran ( ) - See [HE SEES EVERYTHING]
Kaunuhu mutakalliman ( ) - Saying [HE TALKS]

(disclaimer-translation may be a bit off those in brackets are what I perceive the trait meant)

These traits are forbidden by muslims to place as Names. Whereas , an Abdul is added before a name from the list of 99 names. Means normally, Servant of the King (if Abdul Malik)

No. Asma Arab Translation
1 Ar Rahman The All Beneficent
2 Ar Rahim The Most Merciful
3 Al Malik The King, The Sovereign
4 Al Quddus The Most Holy
5 As Salaam Peace and Blessing
6 Al Mu`min The Guarantor
7 Al Muhaimin The Guardian, the Preserver
8 Al `Aziiz The Almighty, the Self Sufficient
9 Al Jabbar The Powerful, the Irresistible
10 Al Mutaqabir The Tremendous

11 Al Khaliq The Creator
12 Al Bari` The Maker
13 Al Mushawwir The Fashioner of Forms
14 Al Ghaffaar The Ever Forgiving
15 Al Qahhaar The All Compelling Subduer
16 Al Wahhaab The Bestower
17 Ar Razzaaq The Ever Providing
18 Al Fattaah The Opener, the Victory Giver
19 Al `Aliim The All Knowing, the Omniscient
20 Al Qaabidh The Restrainer, the Straightener

21 Al Baasith The Expander, the Munificent
22 Al Khaafidh The Abaser
23 Ar Raafi` The Exalter
24 Al Mu`izz The Giver of Honor
25 Al Mudzil The Giver of Dishonor
26 Al Samii` The All Hearing
27 Al Bashiir The All Seeing
28 Al Hakam The Judge, the Arbitrator
29 Al `Adl The Utterly Just
30 Al Lathiif The Subtly Kind

31 Al Khabiir The All Aware
32 Al Haliim The Forbearing, the Indulgent
33 Al `Azhiim The Magnificent, the Infinite
34 Al Ghafuur The All Forgiving
35 As Syakuur The Grateful
36 Al `Aliy The Sublimely Exalted
37 Al Kabiir The Great
38 Al Hafizh The Preserver
39 Al Muqiit The Nourisher
40 Al Hasiib The Reckoner

41 Al Jaliil The Majestic
42 Al Kariim The Bountiful, the Generous
43 Ar Raqiib The Watchful
44 Al Mujiib The Responsive, the Answerer
45 Al Waasi` The Vast, the All Encompassing
46 Al Hakiim The Wise
47 Al Waduud The Loving, the Kind One
48 Al Majiid The All Glorious
49 Al Baa`its The Raiser of the Dead
50 As Syahiid The Witness

51 Al Haqq The Truth, the Real
52 Al Wakiil The Trustee, the Dependable
53 Al Qawiyyu The Strong
54 Al Matiin The Firm, the Steadfast
55 Al Waliyy The Protecting Friend, Patron, and Helper
56 Al Hamiid The All Praiseworthy
57 Al Mushii The Accounter, the Numberer of All
58 Al Mubdi` The Producer, Originator, and Initiator of all
59 Al Mu`iid The Reinstater Who Brings Back All
60 Al Muhyii The Giver of Life

61 Al Mumiitu The Bringer of Death, the Destroyer
62 Al Hayyu The Ever Living
63 Al Qayyuum The Self Subsisting Sustainer of All
64 Al Waajid The Perceiver, the Finder, the Unfailing
65 Al Maajid The Illustrious, the Magnificent
66 Al Wahiid The One, the All Inclusive, the Indivisible
67 Al Ahad The One, the All Inclusive, the Indivisible
68 As Samad The Self Sufficient, the Impregnable, The Everlasting
69 Al Qaadir The All Able
70 Al Muqtadir The All Determiner, the Dominant

71 Al Muqaddim The Expediter, He who brings forward
72 Al Mu`akkhir The Delayer, He who puts far away
73 Al Awwal The First
74 Al Aakhir The Last
75 Az Zahir The Manifest; the All Victorious
76 Al Batin The Hidden; the All Encompassing
77 Al Waali The Patron
78 Al Muta`aalii The Self Exalted
79 Al Barri The Most Kind and Righteous
80 At Tawwaab The Ever Returning, Ever Relenting

81 Al Muntaqim The Avenger
82 Al Afuww The Pardoner, the Effacer of Sins
83 Ar Ra`uuf The Compassionate, the All Pitying
84 Malikul Mulk The Owner of All Sovereignty
85 Dzul Jalal Wal Iqram The Lord of Majesty and Generosity
86 Al Muqsith The Equitable, the Requiter
87 Al Jamii` The Gatherer, the Unifier
88 Al Ghaniyy The All Rich, the Independent
89 Al Mughni The Enricher, the Emancipator
90 Al Mani The Withholder, the Shielder, the Defender

91 Ad Dhaar The Distressor, the Harmer
92 An Nafi` The Propitious, the Benefactor
93 An Nuur The Light
94 Al Hadi The Guide
95 Al Badi Incomparable, the Originator
96 Al Baqi The Ever Enduring and Immutable
97 Al Waarith The Heir, the Inheritor of All
98 Ar Rasyiid The Guide, Infallible Teacher, and Knower
99 As Sabuur The Patient, the Timeless

(Original taken from WiKi,with details changed. Arabic Term is Original)

For a muslim, there are alot of goodies to chant the Asma-Ul-Husna after every prayer (solat) as it is believed to protect oneself and be blessed with.

Now this is the list. Let me know if I make any error.

May Allah forgive me if I made any error herein.

Bless you all

Friday, February 29, 2008

A proper start.

Well, I did not start this site up properly... So here it is...
Bismillah Hirrahman Nirrahim.

In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate.
Kiyer tong sheir....etc etc etc.
Well, I was mimicking my old Principal back in Rulang Primary Mr Yeo, when he opened the Assembly Speech. In other words, Tuan tuan dan Puan Puan...Ladies and Gentlemen.

Now I officially divert some of my resources to this personal diary. These are my thoughts. This are my feelings. Some are my original ideas. So, no pinching of my ideas ok.

Whatever it is, I do appreciate it if you don't steal the content and if you wish to contribute to the quorum with your comment, please keep it sensible,and without any hurt etc.
Anyway. I will try to upload some pics, but no promises.

Best regards.

Back from the dead

Well, this is a new cheap skate version of me. This is a whole lot more rough than my Geeky Blog.
This ..well, is all for me.. about me... by me.. no holds barred.

Don't care if you don't like it...
I am here to stay.