See Thru...

...LCD screens seemed a reality. From the picture it looks like a Toshiba. But after some thought, what use could they be? "...watching your family while watching a movie, watching a movie while another movie plays in the distance, and of course playing a video game while watching a movie"? :OSource: engadget "See-through LCD screen developed"

BURP! Supper is Good!

Burp! (Again!) It's midnight now and I had a Ramly chicken burger just now. I was hoping for a fish burger (love the crispy crunchy feel) but I was denied that, so had to settle for either beef or chicken. The burger is nice, but then I am obviously not 100% satisfied. Therefore, I am going to go and sleep now. ZZZZZzzzzzzz...

Update (few minutes later...):
Couldn't sleep just yet and my friend suggested I should put up a burger to make a point. I have got no photo of the burger I had and he volunteered to let me post his extra delicious yummy In-N-Out burger photo here... SLURP! This is THE ULTIMATE BURGER to have!

Thierry Rommel Power Diplomat

If you are looking for someone who likes to criticise the Malaysian government like there's no tomorrow, look no further. Thierry Rommel the European Commission head (pix) is the one. He claimed that the New Economic Policy "... is the Malay-centred bumiputra policy that drives protectionist policies". For more of this interesting person, check out Star Online's "Selamat jalan, Mr. Rommel!".

Dewy Leaf

Dewy Leaf
Originally uploaded by maruchan313.

What could be better to start your morning than to look at this refreshing dew on a green leaf?

Nintendo DS Advertisement with...

...Nicole Kidman! Yes!

Calling Durian Fans! Free Durians For You!

About 20,000 durians will be given out free at the Bukit Gantang public field in Taiping from 10am onwards this Sunday, 1 July 2007! More of the other not so interesting info about this here.

Solar Vision

Seems like before we achieve our Vision 2020, we need to have another vision out first. Now, our current prime minister's vision is Wawasan Suria (directly translates to Vision Solar). Most timely when we are facing some serious global warming issues, but the question is of course, how well will it be implemented? So many talks to do so many things and as yet, so little has been done...

Anyway, some info on Wawasan Suria:

1. It's about renewable energy sources, but most probably focused on solar energy due to its namesake.
   
2. Panels for home and factory rooftops.
3. Fiscal incentives such as pioneer status, investment tax allowance, accelerated capital allowance, waiver of import duties and local sales tax.
4. The Government will select one or two developers to receive various incentives and a special rebate of more than RM3mil to build 70 units of BIPV homes.
5. The PM hopes that Malaysia will also be a hub (again!) for solar energy development.
6. The PM challenges developers to build the first solar-powered township in the country.
7. This comes from a dream, the PM's dream.

Source: Star Online TechCentral "Pak Lah backs solar power use"

Virtual Bubble Wraps

Remember whenever we open some packaging, find bubble wraps inside and couldn't resist to keep bursting them until there are none left? This seems like great therapy, doesn't it? Someone got creative and here are some virtual ones that even come in a few colours!

Link: Engadget "Virtual bubblewrap: the best / worst gadget ever made"

Safety Tips For Women (and Men)

Some useful tips from Star Online (click on the image for a larger version):

Straight from a Hippo's mouth

Straight from a Hippo's mouth
Originally uploaded by laurenz.

Look straight into the hippo's mouth!

Malaysians In Utilities Debt

According to Star Online Nation, Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said that some 2.2 million customers owed TM RM1.5bil as of last month while 4.8 million TNB customers owed the utility RM698mil. As for Syabas (water), one million customers owed a total of RM221.2mil.

It is interesting how this could happen...

Durian Stalls That Accept Credit Cards

Talk about entrepreneurship! At least 3 stalls in Pulau Pinang accept credit cards a payment for durians! We are talking stalls here! Is this marketing creativity or a way to edge out the competition? Seems like customers buy more by using credit cards! Ingenious! More at Star Online here.

Homer Simpson Abducted!

Update 9:23am:
Amazing! CBS News has this story on their website and it's been dugg! Our country is once again famous!

Update 9:00am:
My faithful Star Online Nation reported that the police have identified the baddies in "Cops home in on Homer thieves". They are students aged 21 and 22 whom are also fans of The Simpsons TV sitcom. They have surrendered and returned Homer. They are currently out on bail.

-----

It is shocking indeed. In the midst of all the crimes happening in Malaysia, here is one of a famous cartoon character. Homer Simpson was taken by unknown people from 1 Utama shopping complex at 3am on 18 June 2007! Below are photos when Homer was still with his family, after he was abducted and the evil abductors' backs caught by CCTV:

I took this on 2 June 2007 during Movie Carnival 2007

After Homer's abduction (photo from nstonline)

Homer's abductors caught on CCTV (photo from nstonline)

According to nstonline, there is a reward of RM1,000 to get Homer back...

Sources:

1. nstonline "RM1,000 reward for Homer's return"
2. Cinema Online "Thieves carting away Homer Simpson figure from cinema caught on CCTV"
   

Know Urban Heat Islands and ICLEI Guidelines

As usual, blogging about articles from Star Online. This is an interesting read with a negatively attractive title "Putrajaya is 5°C hotter than other local cities". The article introduced to me the term Urban Heat Island (UHI) which meant just exactly that - urban city that is always hot. The inability to reflect heat from the sun and the lack of trees to release water vapour (a process known as evapo-transpiration) to cool things down will degrade air quality and increase energy consumption due to the use of cooling equipment.
There exists now an International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) that provide guidelines to minimise on these effect:

1. Cool roofs - Use reflective roofing materials. Conventional, dark-coloured and low-sloped roofs reflect between 10 to 20% of incoming solar radiation, converting the remainder into heat absorbed by the roof.

2. Lighten streets and cool parking lots - Construct, replace, or reconstruct roads and parking lots with reflective or cool paving materials. Planting shade trees in hot spots like parking lots can reduce surface temperatures and temperatures inside parked cars.

3. Green your community - Trees placed on the west, northwest and east-facing sides of buildings significantly reduce cooling costs for a typical home or low-rise building. Preserve and increase urban tree canopies throughout the community. Replace asphalt playgrounds with green spaces to provide children with interesting, safe, and cooler places to play at school.

The six cool policies to institute the practices listed above:

1. Use cool community strategies in public buildings
2. Amend building codes to include reflective roofing standards
3. Amend landscape and development standards to include shade coverage requirements
4. Include cool community guidelines in master plans and in agreements with developers
5. Create incentives for cool action
6. Sponsor demonstration projects and contest

Be Proud of Your Penis

How is it possible to not get attracted to an article titled "Penis Myths Debunked" by LiveScience, right? :D

Learned a thing or two from here and lots of good news for Asian men like me who think our penises are half the size of those belonging to Africans! First off, based on some surveys, 90% of women prefer wider penises rather than longer ones and penile size is not at the top of the list compared to a man's personality and looks.

Other myths debunked:

1. Average erect penis is about 5.5 to 6.2 inches long and about 4.7 to 5.1 inches in circumference.
2. Penis size varies according to race - that is false!
3. Older men do not have smaller penises!
4. Small penis syndrome (SPS) happen in men with normal size penises than those with micro ones (less than 2.7 inches when flaccid).
5. Penis enlarging devices seldom perform but these devices could provide some positive psychological effect.

Read the last few paragraphs of this article for some traditional remedies on increasing penis lengths...

My Own Strawberries

Here is my shot of strawberries... ok, ok, I know it's not splashing into anything, but this is the only one I got. :P Taken a year ago at about the same time as my tomatoes shot.

The strawberry incident...

The strawberry incident...
Originally uploaded by gardawind.

Glittering splash!

Strawberry Drop 2.0

Strawberry Drop 2.0
Originally uploaded by hermanau.

This one's got a nice view.

berry3

berry3
Originally uploaded by hkvam.

Great timing and nice splash. :)

Fresh Strawberries :"))

Fresh Strawberries :"))
Originally uploaded by Heba _ photo.

I'm going on a little strawberry craze here!

Strawberry Splash

Strawberry Splash
Originally uploaded by Morven Photo.

What could be better than to look at a photo of a strawberry dropped into a beer glass on a Sunday afternoon. :)

360 Degrees View From Mount Everest!

Click on image for a much larger view. Image source from Astronomy Picture of the Day via Digg.

Klang's Mysterious Yellow Droppings

Star Online Metro "Mysterious yellow 'droppings' in Klang" has got news for us. A new mysterious yellow substance are staining clothes and these soft droppings emit a foul smell when wet. This had been happening for the past 3 months in Klang's Jalan Tan Sri Manickavasagam 1, 2 and 3. Children are banned from playing outside due to this. According to Star, Klang Municipal Council’s (MPK) environment section are working on this...

The Perfect One Kilogram

Previously, there was a perfect lump of metal weighting a perfect kilogram (in the year 1880). Now, Australian scientists are making a new perfect sphere that will weigh a perfect kilogram (by today's standards). And this sphere looks mighty nice and clear, too:

For more scientific explanation, check out The Age "Perfect silicon sphere to redefine the kilogram". Article discovered via Slashdot.

neugeborene Schnecke

neugeborene Schnecke
Originally uploaded by werner1943.

Wow such a great close-up. Could even see the eyes!

What's Up?

Snapped these two among a group of tortoises at "Thean Hou Temple" during Chinese New Year earlier in the year. Lucky one to get one of them looking at me. What do you think was crossing the mind of this guy? There was a pond full of tortoises... auspicious? Longevity? Feng shui?

Also posted at my flickr site here.

No Choice But To Raise The Bar For Bumi Contractors?

What do you think of this paragraph from Star Online Nation "Government raises bar for bumi contractors"?:

Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the Government had no choice but to raise the standard because there was a need for quality and to ensure that bumiputra contractors compete in a globalised age.

One could be that the real meaning was lost in translation. Otherwise, it would only mean previously there was no need for quality, no?

Robopanda

Anything to do with pandas are just way up in the cute factor. It is about time someone came up with a panda robot which is aptly named as Robopanda. The company is called WowWee. Robopanda could tell stories and utter "oohs" and "ahhs" if cuddled! Click here and here for the complete story from Engadget.

Minimum RM5 For A Pack of 20s

Star Online Nation "Health Ministry to recommend RM5 for a packet of 20 cigarettes" highlights that the Health Ministry will recommend to the cabinet for a minimum price of RM5 for a pack of 20 cigarettes to curb tobacco companies from selling any of these below that price. Some went as low as RM3.50! The purpose for this minimum price is to discourage young people from smoking. A smoker or not, I feel this RM5 price is still wayyyyyy too minimum. Currently, the more famous brands like Mxxxxxxx and Dxxxxxx are selling for RM7.40...

What do you think? Is the minimal RM5 high enough?

Shut Those Xenon Lights Off!

At last some news that the Road Transport Department (JPJ) will be doing something to stop those inconsiderate people who modified their car headlights to the Xenon ones. They caused so much glare when one of those terrible person are driving behind. It was almost blinding. It may be bright for them, but these Xenon lights are even brighter to the drivers in front of those cars!

At the moment, the Road Transport Act only provides for a RM200 fine for modifying vehicles beyond regulations stated in the act. JPJ Director of Enforcement Salim Parlan said JPJ was considering to add regulations to ban these Xenon lights.

Let's see how long more before action is taken.

Source: Star Online Nation "Crackdown on Xenon headlights"

Vitato Is Malaysia's Potato

The Malaysian Agriculture Research Development Institute (Mardi) had proudly unveiled Malaysia's own homegrown sweet potato on Tuesday. It was claimed to have higher nutritious values (such as vitamins C and E) compared to normal ones.

The name came from the combination of vitamin + potato... wow, what a no brainer.

Source: Star Online Nation "Malaysia unveils Vitato"

Correct Orientation

Correct Orientation
Originally uploaded by zpaperboyz.

Spectacular timing! First time I see a photo showing an eagle do this!

Say Peanuts

Say Peanuts
Originally uploaded by l_inda_gail.

Hilarious!

Understanding RSS The Simple Way

I remembered there was a time when a couple of my friends and I were trying to get this other friend (see all names are withheld) to use Google Reader but we failed miserably until now. From Google Reader Blog, I was directed to Common Craft which is featuring "RSS in Plain English". Here is another hope for Google Reader and for our friend... :P Check out the embedded video below:

Click To Play

Deja Vu No Longer Means You Are In the Matrix

Now there is scientific proof that whenever we feel like we have been some where or done something before (like we know the future kind of thing), we are not in the matrix, feeding computers like batteries. LiveScience's "Origin of Deja Vu Pinpointed" said that (in very complicated scientific language) it is most likely caused by that part of the brain that helps us to tell similar situations and places apart...

For further information, please read that article... this is not familiar at all...

Dark Times - Rise of the Evil Children

Was very saddened when I came across this piece of news from Star Online Nation "Torment at hands of junkie sons". Here are some clippings from the report:

One of the inmates, known only as Azman from Kedah, said after getting involved with wrong company, he starting sniffing glue and became violent each time his demands were not fulfilled.

“I used to get involved in gang fights outside the house, but there was a day when after sniffing a bit too much glue, I was in my own world and became more violent.

“Since I was hungry and there was no food on the table, I become angry and confronted my parents who were praying at that time.

“I called my mother a dog and my father a pig, and seeing no reaction from them, I kicked my father’s head,” he said, adding that they could no longer tolerate his behaviour and called an ustaz, who referred him to Rumah Sahabat Insan dan Iman Malaysia (Sidim) for rehabilitation.

In the second case, the inmate known as Tahir from Kuala Lumpur said his mother was his “bank”, as whenever he needed money for his gangster friends and drugs, he would ask her.

Get SMART on Friday Midnight

Update 14:56

Samy Vellu says the toll rate would be RM2 beginning Thursday night, 14 June 2007 at 11:59pm.

-

Samy Vellu says that the toll for the SMART Tunnel will commence from Friday midnight. He will announce the rates in another one or two days. Brace yourselves!

Source: Star Online Nation "SMART toll to start on Friday" & Star Online Nation "RM2 toll for SMART tunnel use"

All About Sorry

SORRY!

All about apologising, how to say it, when to say it, when should it happen and some examples from Star Online Columnists "Saying sorry".

Most Energy Saving Way to Get Hot Water?

Ma Yanjun the farmer, of Qiqiao village, Shaanxi province made this setup of 66 beer bottles interlinked together to work like a solar powered water heater so that his mother can shower in hot water. Truly ingenious and probably more environmental friendly than the big talking West's solutions for renewable energy.

From Weird Asia News "Beer + Sunshine = Hot Water" via Digg.

My First Poem: Saya Bina

While chatting with some friends on MSN Messenger, we were making up poems and I have created a few versions of a poem for a certain person who is responsible for a lot of leaks and defects and so far this I think is the best:

saya bina mesti bocor
saya bina semua kotor
saya bina bagi konco
saya bina pasti heboh

Direct translation:

I build sure leak
I build all dirty
I build for gang
I build sure famous

Serpent or Limbless Lizard?

This is not a snake at all. It is a new species of a limbless lizard found in India and at the moment, no where else in the world. It exhibits lizard characteristics such as external ears and eyelids... beats me, it sure looks like a snake!

Read more at National Geographic Photo in the News: New Limbless Lizard Species Found.

DIY Fertility Test

Here is a way to test your fertility no matter if you are male or female and you don't have to visit the doctor to do it! Check out this device below:

Read more from engadget.

The Past and Now

Here is something fun you can do. Capture your photo now, and store it somewhere safe. Then in another 10 years or so, capture another one. Dig out the old one and put them side-by-side... Photojojo has a better tutorial for doing this. Check it out here.

Samy Vellu Writes Poem For Prime Minister

Our Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu made up a poem for the prime minister in conjunction of the PM's wedding this Saturday. The Works Minister seems to have a big heart because the PM just criticised him for talking too much due to the recent leakage and other defects of government buildings. Anyway, here is the poem from Star Online Nation "Samy pens poem for PM":

From this day forward
You shall not walk alone.
Her heart will be your shelter,
And her arms will be your home.
A mountain needs a valley to be complete;
the valley does not make
the mountain less, but more;
and the valley is more a valley because
it has a mountain towering over it

God's Large Wardrobe

Ever wondered what God wears? If we are talking about the very popular Christian Almighty, based on movies and many illustrations from books and magazines, I would say a white robe. If we talk about the Chinese Taoist teaching, there is a King God and a Queen God and a lot of other Gods, all in colourful traditional clothings. Other races, not very sure.

The Center for Improved Living blog posted the question "What outfit do you imagine God in?" Check out the replies by clicking here.

Tongues!

Feeding the giraffe photo from FILE Magazine:

Malaysia Prime Minister to Marry

Yes! This just in! After many attempts to deny such rumours, it is publicly announced in the Prime Minister's Office website here. Found out about this from JeffOoi's blog here. He will get married to Jeanne Abdullah, 54, this Saturday, 9 June 2007 at the Prime Minister's Office, Putrajaya. Below is the official announcement from the website:


KENYATAAN MEDIA MENGENAI PENGUMUMAN
MAJLIS AKAD NIKAH YAB PERDANA MENTERI


Dengan sukacitanya dimaklumkan bahawa YAB Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi akan melangsungkan majlis akad nikah dengan Jeanne Abdullah pada hari Sabtu 9 Jun 2007 bersamaan dengan 23 Jamadilawwal 1428 Hijrah.

Jeanne Abdullah dilahirkan di Kuala Lumpur pada 29 Julai 1953 dan merupakan anak sulung daripada empat orang adik-beradik. Beliau menerima pendidikan di Sekolah Menengah Assunta dan mempunyai pengalaman yang luas dalam bidang pentadbiran dan penghotelan setelah terlibat dalam pengurusan beberapa hotel terkemuka di Malaysia, termasuk Hotel Hilton Kuala Lumpur dan Hotel Pan Pacific. Jeanne juga pernah bertugas sebagai Pengelola kediaman rasmi Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Pengurus Kompleks Seri Perdana.

Jeanne mempunyai dua orang anak, Nadiah dan Nadene.

Majlis berkenaan akan diadakan di Seri Perdana dan akan dihadiri oleh keluarga terdekat sahaja.

Read more from Star Online Nation "PM to get married on Saturday"

A Time To Grief: First Panda Freed into Wildlife Dead

This is very sad news. Xiang Xiang, a 5 year old panda male released last April into the wild after being raised in captivity, was found dead. He appeared to have succumbed to injuries from a fall after a fight with his wild male counterparts.

Read more at National Geographic News and click here for a video about Xiang Xiang.

Ever Thought Green Seats Can be So Cool?

Flickr Blog has a load of green seats abstracts here (from top to bottom; München - Olympic Stadium - Green Seats by linolo, :P by SophieMuc, Sea of Green 2 by yan_ke):

Malaysia's Growth

Star Online Nation "First-quarter growth at 5.3%" revealed that Malaysia's growth during the first quarter of this year is, well, 5.3%. More good news: The economy is expected to record stronger growth in the upcoming second half of this year with the overall growth for this year estimated at 6%. More info from the link above.