From flickr: Lightning Storm III vs Lowes Home Improvement

Lightning Storm III vs Lowes Home Improvement
Originally uploaded by iceman9294.

A storm is coming! I could hear thunder. Cooler night ahead?

From flickr: Splash

Splash
Originally uploaded by carolyn :).

The splash here looks really cool and refreshing... something I need in this hot and humid weather.

Handphone Hunt #4 - Sony Ericsson K530i

Ah yes! The search for an even cheaper phone but with 3G led me to the newly launched Sony Ericsson K530i. This phone has a 2 megapixel camera but WITHOUT flash... not even an LED flash! GASP! How can this even be possible?

However, it's got a nice set of other features and it costs RM950 the last time I checked from a Sony authorised dealer. It's got FM radio and blogging features! Also on my list.

Photo from Sony Ericsson website.

Other Handphone Hunt articles:

1. Handphone Hunt #1
2. Handphone Hunt #2 - Nokia N73
   
3. Handphone Hunt #3 - Sony Ericsson K800i/K810i
   

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Originally uploaded by Dal Nunes.

It is very hot today!

the light

the light
Originally uploaded by childish_david.

Fresh, innocent and ready to rock the world!

Where Red Comes From

Where Red Comes From
Originally uploaded by ecstaticist.

Something is brewing in there...

Evil Strikes Langkawi Underwater World

A few days ago, approximately 600 aqua life in the Langkawi Underwater World aquariums were poisoned! My colleagues and I were just there not more than a month ago! Police suspect an insider job. This is being investigated under Section 429 of the Penal Code for treason where the offender(s) is/are punishable with a minimum fine of RM25,000 and or jailed up to five years.

Death by poison: Tan and Malik looking at a carcass of a nurse shark at the quarantine section of the Langkawi Underwater World Wednesday

Source: Star Online Nation "An inside job, say cops"

Beware of imitations

Beware of imitations
Originally uploaded by Raja Islam.

McD kiosk? :O

"Malaysia Very Corrupt"

Based on the results from Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) where Malaysia is ranked 43rd (same position as last year but with an improvement from 5.0 to 5.1), Transparency International Malaysia founding president Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim said that we are still perceived as "very corrupt".

More at Star Online Nation "M'sia rises a rank in Corruption Perception Index"

Where is Malaysia?

The World Bank's annual report stated that Singapore is the best place to do business, followed by New Zealand and the US. The top 10:

1. Singapore
2. New Zealand
3. USA
4. Hong Kong
5. Denmark
6. UK
7. Canada
8. Ireland
9. Australia
10. Iceland

Throughout the article, there are mentions of other Asian countries like China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia but no Malaysia... despite all the hype about the 9th Malaysian Plan, the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and the East Coast Economic Region (ECER). At least we are not at the bottom of the list. That means we are actually quite friendly.

Source: CNNMoney.com "Best for Business: Singapore"

Simply Simply Mooncake Festival

Check out Simply Simply's photos from last night! Taken with an always handy camera phone... can't wait to own one. :DClick on the link above to view more.

Dawns Movements

Dawns Movements
Originally uploaded by thepres6.

Great reflections! It says in thepres6's message "Have a wonderful Tuesday" but since it's Wednesday here, I guess wonderful Wednesday, too? :P

2007/08 Season Begins

At last! After a century of waiting, the new seasons of CSI: Miami, Heroes, CSI: New York, CSI, Grey's Anatomy and Smallville begin this week!

1. CSI: Miami - Today, 24 September 2007
2. Heroes - Today, 24 September 2007
3. CSI: New York - Wednesday, 26 September 2007
4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Thursday, 27 September 2007
5. Grey's Anatomy - Thursday, 27 September 2007
6. Smallville - Thursday, 27 December 2007

Beautiful Beach

Beautiful Beach
Originally uploaded by esther**.

Wow if only the place where I sit has this view... there are no windows here! :(

Malaysia's Astronaut Angkasawan

I'm sure it's out all over the internet and the fact that the official word from our PM came a little late, but the primary astronaut is Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar (picture).

Source:
1. Star Online News "Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar is our astronaut"
2. Photo from Wikipedia here

Antilope Canyon

Antilope Canyon
Originally uploaded by Dutch Mills.

Hallelujah!

Dedal de Oro

Dedal de Oro
Originally uploaded by loquenoves.

Monday gets nearer and nearer and let's hope it's as wonderful as these!

We Unite in 250 Million Years

According to this NASA page, all of earth will combine again in 250 million years from now! Check out the photo below and the description here:

arms of love

arms of love
Originally uploaded by Maggie's World.

I feel hypnotised , ESPECIALLY every Monday. Waking up during working mornings, I stare into space... work, work, work...

Frequency of Sex by Country

From flickrer crackerjack_777 via Digg (click on the image for a larger view or on crackerjack's link to his flickr page):
Malaysians are doing fine while the Greeks are superb! But the Japs... hmmm... Read about this some time back and since there is no indication from where and which year these data are taken from, let's not have too much faith on the statistics, yah?

Wiels - Brussels/ Forest - Purpleart

Wiels - Brussels/ Forest - Purpleart
Originally uploaded by Guido Jan.

Art is everything and this huge ball with dots is one of the best!

Where the Moon Waits..

Where the Moon Waits..
Originally uploaded by bryancrump.

It's evening here and the stars and moon have appeared. But not as nice as depicted here. One of these nights, perhaps.

Sex Offenders to be Tracked

From Star Online Nation "Cops to track sex offenders with chip":

BERITA Harian reported that individuals who have been convicted of sexual offences against children would be required to wear a chip and special bracelet after they are released from jail for police to track their movement.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the new system would be incorporated into the Child Protection Policy which would be drafted soon.

Through the monitoring system, information on offenders would be available on the Internet.

The public as well as the authorities would be able to refer to the website whenever there were cases of crime against children.

Sounds all too good to be true. Let's see when and how it will be implemented. I hope this is not one of those hangat-hangat tahi ayam moments.

Police MUST Get Permission From Superiors Before Marriage

This is the first time I have read of such a thing that police officers who wish to get married will need to get permission from their superiors. It is to ensure that the country's security will not be compromised by the wrong spouse.

It came into the open after three police officers got married without following the proper procedures. According to the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, these officers will either be demoted or expelled.

Source: Star Online News "Police force to ver brides-to-be"

The new form of intelligence...! :)

The new form of intelligence...! :)
Originally uploaded by culture_wise.

Fear Factor! Dare you eat these gummies? :P

simultaneousness…♫ egrets from bali ♫♫

simultaneousness…♫ egrets from bali ♫♫
Originally uploaded by bocavermelha-l.b..

Synchronised flying! A double from bocavermelha-l.b!

yodell ♫ lay-od-lay-od-lay-he-hoo, ♫ lay-od-lay-od-low yodellay, ♫ yodallay, yodal-low… ♫ and they fly low supreme!

yodell ♫ lay-od-lay-od-lay-he-hoo, ♫ lay-od-lay-od-low yodellay, ♫ yodallay, yodal-low… ♫ and they fly low supreme!
Originally uploaded by bocavermelha-l.b..

Mighty great timing!

The Spirit of Ramadan

Seems like Star Online Editor Raslan Sharif touched on the right subjects when he wrote the article "The breaking fast phenomenon" when he talked about what Ramadan, the fasting month, is really about: To fast so that one can feel the hunger and thirst of the unfortunate people around the world. So much so that when breaking fast, one should not be over-eating. At most, eat the usual meals one would take on normal days:

One of the lessons to be learnt from fasting during Ramadan is to feel the hunger and the thirst that many people around the world go through on a daily basis and learn from the experience. Muslims are encouraged to break their fast with the sort of meal they normally have, preferably less.

Couldn't agree more. Check out the rest of the article here. I have noticed at various F&B outlets, a lot of the people involved in fasting actually bought food and were sitting down, way before the break fast time, getting ready to eat and drink on the dot. Right or wrong? On one hand, it is understandable but on the other, it will not portray a very good image. Otherwise, it wouldn't be in the true spirit of it all in this month where discipline is the key, would it?

Is Working from Home Good?

When I first read this article from CNNMoney.com, I was impressed and was wishing I could do what Marilyn Grabowski does. She works from home. She even manages her staff from home. Amazing! Then came the negatives: She never take breaks and work into the weekends. Hmmm... maybe it is not so wise working from home after all since it seemed inevitable that work gets tangled with personal life...

A Huge Pot of Briyani Rice

Wow check out this large pot of briyani rice at the Giant and Bayan Baru Ramadan Bazaar:Source: Star Online Nation "A briyani rice a day"

Handphone Hunt #3 - Sony Ericsson K800i/K810i

By now you would have guessed I am kind of into photography so phones designed for photo taking interest me more. After the N73, I looked at K800i (left) and its almost equivalent younger sibling K810i (from what I know, the advantage is a nicer lens cover and added shadow revealing mode). There's a comparison of the two phones here at Sony Ericsson's website.

It's mostly down to personal taste but I prefer the photos taken by the K800i/K810i than the ones taken by the Nokia N73. In my opinion, the N73 had too much in-camera processing and noise reduction making lots of loss in details. The K800i/K810i, on the other hand, has less of those. Some might say the colours are not so rich, but to me, they looked more natural. I must add that these photos are by no means great if compared to the most basic digital cameras.

The usual 3G and other technology stuff are similar (in terms of specifications) to the N73 and I've only tried the K800i for like 2 minutes so I really can't comment on the handling. However, rumour (reliability in doubt) has it that the K810i "joystick" gets damaged easily. Shrug.

I would consider these guys (probably the K800i because it's cheaper) so this will remain in my list but there are a few negative points I am considering:

1. Lens cover that juts out
2. It's a Sony, so it uses proprietary Memory Stick flash memory
3. It's got Xenon flash (this is really, really a very good feature, just that I am weird and have this thing about having an LED flash so that I can use it as a flash light when in darkness) :P

So now I got one handphone in my list should my faithful, ancient but classic Nokia 6210 fail...

Note: Product photos from Sony Ericsson website.

50 Years of Unity

A very interesting sentence presumably by MCA leader Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting from Star Online Nation News "Power sharing the right formula":

Political parties under the coalition looked after the interests of their respective communities without jeopardising the well-tested power sharing arrangements.

How much weight can he put on that sentence?

INSANE: Stray Dogs Hunting Competition

Read Star Online Columnists "A doggone crazy idea" for a crazy, cruel and insane idea by the Selayang Municipal Council to solve their district's stray dogs issue. The council receives at least 80 complaints about stray dogs and captures 200 of these per month and still can't solve it. Hence the competition. Want to know the prizes?

1. First prize RM15,000
2. Second prize RM13,000
3. Third prize RM11,000

I suppose this is an easy way to solve their problem without the thought that this is will no doubt encourage violence and cruelty to animals. Worse of all, this endanger the lives of people looking for some quick money. Insane!

Concise Google History on Yahoo! News

Want to know more about how Google got started and what is the company's value then and now? Who are Google's two main people and how much of personal wealth they have? What lawsuits and criticisms are they facing now? All available at Yahoo! News "Google, at age 10, is the official heart of the internet" via Digg.

Google logo from Google's search page.

McLaren GUILTY!

Formula One leading team McLaren was found guilty in the espionage case where their chief engineer was found to be in possession of Ferrari's technical documents. Their punishment? USD$100mil fine and all of their constructor's championship points for this season.

However, the team was not banned from competition and their drivers still have their championship points.

Source:

1. The Sun
2. Star Online Sports "McLaren team to lose constructors points and fined US$100mil"
   

New Flash Memory

Good bye SD (and its smaller variants) and Memory Stick (and also its smaller variants) memory cards because Nokia, Samsung and Sony are teaming up to make an all new flash memory for their new phones by 2009. The new flash memory will comply with a new standard specification called "Universal Flash Storage".

But what about Motorola, Siemens, Alcatel, LG, HTC, etc...? Is another format war brewing? :O

Link: Star Online TechCentral "Nokia to cooperate on flash memory cards"

Handphone Hunt #2 - Nokia N73

I first set eyes on this when one of my contractors bought it and we were traveling up North. The first thing I did was to try out the camera function. Seemed simple enough to use and it took sharp and crisp photos (from the small LCD screen of the phone). Next, I played with its 3G function. We were trying out remote CCTV monitoring and the loading times were fast enough. This was the first time I experienced 3G connectivity. Very outdated, I know. Also tried surfing net. Cool. All seemed well and I was impressed.

Problem 1:
Then I started to hear that it hangs periodically. The contractor told me the same a few days later that often people will not be able to call him.

Problem 2:
I then went to Flickr to checkout the photos taken using this camera. Looked nice and crisp from the thumbnails but when enlarged 50% or more, I noticed lots of noise reduction and sharpening (no matter if it was daylight or night) making fine details, especially, appear like blotches. The colours also looked way too saturated. BAD! Check out the blue flowers from the sample images from Mobile-review.com here. Also take a look at the large version of the KLCC Twin Towers by rockbeglam here. Look at the textures.

I could not accept the photos it take and feel that at the price of around RM1,499, it is not justifiable so I striked it out from my list.

Handphone Hunt #1

The handphone that I am using now is over 5 years old. I officially own the oldest phone at my workplace and among all my friends. However, please give credit to Nokia for making the... the... (I can't even remember the phone's model) phone last so long. One second... ah! It's a Nokia 6210. The only thing I can brag about is that I had never changed the battery from the first day till now and it still lasts 3 to 4 days! Only last week I talked for almost an hour and that took only a single battery indicator bar.

Needless to say, I am hunting for a replacement when this phone eventually fails (or maybe I can get the new one earlier). Minimum requirements: 3G and 2 megapixel camera. Additional bonuses? Hmmm... Nice looking, lots of applications, expandable memory, etc.

I have narrowed the choices down to two... But it's getting late and I got to sleep. Good night!

Panda Cuddle

Panda Cuddle
Originally uploaded by mileswu.

It's past 12am now and I got to wake up early at 6am afterwards. This cute photo will surely help on such an early Monday. :D

Giant high-heel

Giant high-heel
Originally uploaded by andrewkok.

Interesting photos from my burger loving friend! May you find more cheesy and meaty burgers and high heel wearing chicks! Click here for more! :)

Flower Macro by sakura*aya

Originally uploaded by sakura*aya.

Check out this abstract macro of some flowers! Taken by Nikon P5000. I am currently looking at the P series as my compact 'carry anywhere' camera. Still kind of thick to but into my pockets but it's got manual functions. The upcoming P50 has 28mm wide angle lens which is something I am looking for, too! Hmmm...

The Trip to Langkawi...

... the trip that was not meant to be? Here is the story:

It was a company trip and the organisers made sure it is during a long weekend break (weekend + public holiday) so that we did not need to take any annual leaves. Well, it is very considerate in a way but at the same time, being a long weekend, we would have to bare with traffic jams and huge crowds.

So off we went at approximately 10:40pm on 30 August 2007 on two buses (one designated the family bus for colleagues bringing along their family and the other designated the singles bus). Around 1 hour or so later, we were stuck in a jam that, according to a colleague, lasted 3 hours (I guess I fell asleep during this slow moving ride because to me it was only a short while). We arrived at the Kuala Kedah port (we need to take a ferry to Langkawi Island) around 2 and a half hours late and missed our 8:15am ferry. We had to wait for the next available one, which was 4 hours away... just take a look at part of the crowd in a part of the port on the right here.

So we stood and we sat, we napped, we chat, we wandered around for drinks and food for 4 hours. Then, we had to queue among the crowd to get into the ferry. At last, we were on our way!

After about an hour on the ferry we finally arrived and we went on another bus and a van (9 others and yours truly went into the van) that felt like another hour of ride but was actually half of that for our lunch. We were starved! The food tasted great but that was probably the tastiest during the period of the trip. Because we missed the earlier ferry, our round island trip was cancelled so we moved on to our hotel. We checked in and my roommate and I fell onto our beds for a nap before we had to move on to the "Underwater World".

My roommate and I missed the transport to the place. I had to blame him for this. He told me he wasn't going to shower when I tried to wake him up after mine. I fell asleep again and when my alarm woke me up to get ready to go, he told me he was going to shower! GASP! The tour guide was kind enough to bring the van back to pick us up and we did not hear any complains from our colleagues. :P

The Underwater World was moderately interesting with lots of aquariums. I expected that we would be traveling on a travelator (not sure what you call it... it's like escalators but without the steps) and moving within a super large aquarium but I was disappointed. Nonetheless, there were some interesting things like penguins (one particularly interesting penguin, tagged as "34", was just standing there in front of some rocks!!! A colleague was saying it was being punished, and I thought it was just sleeping - can't see if the eyes were closed, though - shown just below here), fishes and corals.

Off we went for dinner... I was still full from my lunch but nevermind. The food did not taste so well. I thought it was just me but I got confirmation from the rest of them. Off we went for duty free shopping after that. The first hour was fine until to my horrors, we were given four hours to shop! Some of us had to wait outside the shops for hours so that our shopaholic colleagues could indulge in their money spending habits!

At last we got to go home but because we were supposed to be on holiday, we had to go do some clubbing! Not wanting to be a spoil sport, I went along and being very alcoholic intolerant I spent my night puking. At 3am we can't find any taxi and we had to walk back to our hotel which felt like it was a thousand kilometers away in my condition.

Next morning, at 9am, we had to gather to go up this mountain that by then I could not be bothered with. After waking up quite late, I had a quick shower and a quick breakfast. Phew, was not late this time but my roommate barely made it. Luckily we were stalled by a lot of Harley Davidsons blocking the exit. :D

The sky was blue and the weather hot, so we expected to get some really nice view of the whole island. But of course, we all had to queue to go up there. This time, the queuing was worse. There were no designated areas to queue so people just make their own lines and there was only one small little entrance. As we went nearer, people started pushing. A couple of steps before the entrance, it turned into shoving. The ugly side of Malaysians on the day after our 50th Independance, really. A group of foreigners learnt the hard way and emulated our ways. Anyway, all my colleagues and family managed to pull through and I was the last one far, far, far behind. I was boiling by then. By the time I was up there, there was nothing to see. It had rained and there were lots of clouds. Every where was WHITE! So went down...

And when we reached our hotel, it was time for our tele-match! NOOOOO!!! We had 6 games and the last was tug-of-war in the beach (in the water). I had to say, it was a horrible idea but being on the beach, it helped to minimise some injuries. We had 3 groups so we had to draw lots. The lucky group get to only 'tug' once. Of course, my group was not the lucky one. After some extreme pulling, my group won. About 10 minutes later, we had to start our war with the lucky group. My group lost. My hands were shaking uncontrollably and my roommate and I decided we will take the flight home and not by ferry and bus.

Went to the airport to find all flights were fully booked for the next day so we settled for the same night. We had company dinner but we had to leave early to catch our flight. Despite all the problems I had, I felt sad leaving the rest of my colleagues. Suddenly, I felt close to them. I had a hard time carrying my luggage. Kept dropping my hand luggage. I can't hold my hands into fists after the tug-of-wars. Still my roommate and I managed home one piece with his brother giving me a ride to my house.

The following Monday, back at work, I found out that the rest of them had to go through some traffic jams and the bus ride took them 10 to 11 hours.

365 - 38 - plup friction

365 - 38 - plup friction
Originally uploaded by the brownhorse.

WOW! Come on baby, make my day! :-\

pond............

pond............
Originally uploaded by twentyeight.

Such a pleasing, cool and serene photo by twentyeight. Something good for de-stressing on a Sunday (fact that tomorrow is a Monday!). :D

Tiger Shark

Tiger Shark
Originally uploaded by Buck Forester.

Check this one out! A fierce white tiger in the water! A rare species and a rare photo indeed.