Thursday, 29 March 2007

Of Sarcasm and Forgetting a Bra

I am posting this here not so much of Victoria Beckham, not so much of bras and not so much of nipples. It is about a letter that American magazine US Weekly specially crafted for Victoria when she moves with husband to Los Angeles:

There is nothing Posh about forgetting to wear a bra when gallivanting about in thin T-shirts, as you've unfortunately been known to do. It is obvious to us that the bra may be a foreign concept to you - much like American football, or the good sense to avoid Tom Cruise - so allow us to explain: You're a 32-year-old woman with perky breasts that apparently like to breathe. Keep shunning that bra and in five years you'll end up with pendulums hanging off your clavicle that hubby David Beckham might mistake for soccer ball bags.

Source: IMDb.com "Magazine Editors Urge Beckham To Get a Bra"

The Time Is Right To Write On Poop, Panda Poop

Researchers from China plan to recycle some 2 tonnes of panda droppings from a center's 40 pandas everyday into paper. A zoo in Thailand is already doing that with two pandas on rent from China. Their process goes like this: a daylong process of cleaning the feces, boiling it in a soda solution, bleaching it with chlorine and drying it under the sun.

Source: LiveScience.com "Chinese to Turn Panda Poop into Paper"

Selangor Broadband to Be Very Slow In The Next 3 Years

That is what I had in mind when I first read the title of Star Online Nation's "Selangor aims for 90% broadband coverage within 3 years". Currently, the penetration rate is 14%. Every time when TM has an increase in customers, my Streamyx connection will go blink, blink, indicating that I am not connected to the net. It gets really irritating when after 1 hour, it still goes blink, blink. And the worse would be after that, I finally notice there is a connection established so I go about logging into my e-mails, google accounts, etc. when it starts to blink, blink once more...

Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Cervical Cancer Vaccine

Clipped from Star Online Nation:

A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and vulvar and vaginal pre-cancers in women, called Gardasil, was launched in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It is the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, a disease caused almost exclusively by a highly common sexually transmitted virus called the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) that includes over 100 different strains.

In Malaysia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer after breast cancer.

“The vaccine has been shown to be effective in studies done on women between 16 and 26. The majority of women who are diagnosed with cervical cancer are between the ages of 40 and 50.

“We hope that the vaccine will protect the generation of females now. It will not make a major impact on those in their 50s because many are already infected.”

“Some 1,500 Malaysian women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year.

“Pap smear tests, which start at the cost of RM5 or RM10 from government clinics to below RM100 in private hospitals, are readily available. Yet most women just don’t take it. “

NCSM is offering the vaccine at a subsidised price of RM999 at its Women’s Cancer Detection & Breast Clinic.

For more information call 03-2698 7351.

Water Retention

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a new by-law will be formulated by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government to mandate that certain large buildings, such as factories and institutions of higher learning, will have to install "rainwater harvesting" systems to collect rainwater. This water will be used for things like washing the car, watering plants, flush toilets, etc. as long the water is not used for consumption or bathing.

He also mentioned that low cost houses and other smaller buildings will not be required to do so, leaving a big question mark... what about larger houses? Shop lots? That's right, keep guessing (and don't forget to save money to pay for the system) and see how many you have got right when the ruling is finalised.

Source: Star Online Nation "Harvesting rainwater on roofs"

Another Reason Not To Beef

STARTLING REVELATION! Pregnant women that eat too much beef will cause their sons to have low sperm count (up to 24.3% lower)! Yes! If you are pregnant and you have been taking beef the whole week, it is time to panic! You may not have grand children. GASP!

However, do remember to breathe. Here is something that might comfort you: This is only a study based on 387 women across 5 American cities. And the study was conducted from 2000 to 2005 on adult males' mothers. What do all these mean?

That this is a retrospective study where questionnaires were handed out and the elder women filled in the blanks from memory. Hence, the accuracy is questionable. Phew! Nonetheless, less beef just to be safe.

Source: Star Online World "Eat a lot of beef? It may affect your son's sperm"

ps. forgot to mention the suspected causes: Hormones or contaminants from the cattles' food intake.

New Climate Zone Next Century

Reuters "New, unknown climate zones seen by 2100: study" indicated that there will be a huge climate shift if the earth continues to warm at the current rate - up to a total increase of 8 degrees Celcius by 2100. The biggest changes will be the North and South poles where ice will disappear (something scientific: when ice and snow melt, the ability to reflect sunlight back to space reduces, causing the warming to accelerate even faster). Habitats will be destroyed, species such as the polar bears may be extinct.

The tropics will also face changes, though the article did not say in what way. A new earth is on the way, folks, but we need not worry as most of us reading this wouldn't be around for the experience.

Tuesday, 27 March 2007

Goodbye Magazines

Not so much as a gasp, but I was rather surprised to learn that PC Magazine Malaysia is into its last issue this April. Got to know of this via Jeff Ooi's blog which pointed to the article he wrote in CNet Asia's Lemak Lemang. Seems like it was due to poor readership and the fact that more readers are sourcing news from the net. PC Magazine Malaysia is published by Catcha Corp.

Coincidentally, I bumped into this news from Reuters that Time Inc. (Time Magazine, yeah) is discontinuing its weekly newspaper insert magazine called Life. The reason cited was similar - readers moving from print media to online news and photos. However, it will make Life's 10 million or so photos viewable online, with "the most important collection of imagery covering the events and people of the 20th century available for free for personal use."

Another magazine that I know of was Digital Camera & Photography which I never had a chance to read until someone passed its last issue (Dec-Jan 2007) to me. This magazine was less than one year old! Quite a comprehensive magazine, so a pity on its demise. However, I was not told what the reason was.

Any other publications that are reaching the end of its life? Do drop a line here.

Meet The Yellow Digi People Session


Have you seen the Digi advertisements on TV lately? Notice the yellow round and chubby guys running around? It seems they are called "Yellow Coverage Fellows" and Digi's promotions attracted more than just customers. According to Star Online Nation "Little Rachel Chan gets to meet DiGi’s ‘yellow men’ ", little Rachel Chan was so mesmerised by these guys that she wrote a letter to Digi asking the YCF to follow her to school (the YCFs are portrayed to follow people around in the ads).

Guess what? Digi responded and got two YCFs to go to school with her! They took her in an MPV and while at the school why not entertain the other kids as well? They handed out goodies to the others and also did what Rachel called the "boing-boing" dance.

Now that is cool marketing! And coming today marks another interesting launch: Digi's new Prepaid Fu-Yoh! Possibly another word that will be uttered as often as "wah lau eh!"

Digi's website: http://www.digi.com.my/

ps. I have friends and colleagues that laugh out loud whenever we mention theDigi advertisment about feng shui. :D

Start Your Petitions Online Today!

Just stumbled upon a website called www.PetitionOnline.com while reading an article about a petition by PS3 owners to boycott Capcom for not keeping their promise on an exclusive game for the machine.

At the time of blogging, the total number of signatures collected from all the petitions on the website were a little over 50 million.

For all of you interested in petitioning something, head on over to there. According to the website: "PetitionOnline.com provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy." I have not tried it myself because at the moment I have got nothing to protest about. Maybe you, the one reading this, got some ideas?

Monday, 26 March 2007

When You Are Bored, Start Counting Dots

A rather amazing website link via Digg. For every second, a dot is highlighted in black. Hard to explain here, you just got to go check it out from this link. For some, it might be a nice programming technique and for others like me, an interesting fresh new take about time. :P

Delicate Sunset


Delicate Sunset
Originally uploaded by James Neeley.

James Neeley did a great job with nature's arch from Arches National Park, Utah. Look at the colour of the sky and the magnificent arch standing there.

mer de tranquilite


mer de tranquilite
Originally uploaded by in touch.

Check out that very nice tower and its reflection by in_touch.

Sunday, 25 March 2007

Bad Prince and The Two-Timer?

Star Online Nation "Prince probed for assaulting woman friend" indicated that a prince from an undisclosed royal family had allegedly been reported by a woman that he attacked her for two-timing. The woman had to lodge a report at the police headquarters at Bukit Aman as no other police stations would accept her report (!!!).

Rapists Have New Fear

An anti-rape device that has 25 teeth that will sink into the head and shaft of the penis should there be a rape attempt. This device is called Rapex and is developed by Sonnet Eshler for South African women. There are many groups that oppose to this, mainly with fear that this will cause increase in violence to women.

Eshler on the other hand feels this device will give the woman time to escape as the attacker is still in pain. Besides that, this device may provide sufficient proof that a rape was intended as the attacker would need to go to a doctor.

Source: SHelper "Anti-rape Device to Hit the Market" via Digg

A New Way of Identifying Lost Children

An article from Daily Cup of Tech "DCot Helps Find Lost Child" highlighted a family that place information about their kids, the parents' phone numbers and pass phrase into thumbdrives (a.k.a. USB drives). This way, when the kid is lost and hopefully, a good samaritan finds the kid, he/she could take the drive off the kid's neck, stick it to a nearby computer and read the information. After that, the kid's parents can be contacted and as an extra form of security, the parents will need to produce their own thumbdrive with the pass phrase to match with the kid's before bringing the kid home. Here is an excerpt of the story:

Our three year old did just what we thought he would do - Disappeared. Within 13 minutes of being ‘lost’ though, my cellphone rang. My three year old whom we thought didn’t understand what we told him about the funny thing around his neck actually did what we told him. The account from our boys ‘finder’ was humorous and panned out like this: My little redheaded boy was SCREAMING for his mom. The ‘finder’ came to help him, the boy showed the ‘finder’ the labelled USB drive, the ‘finder’ then brought him to security, security plugged the USB drive in to his computer, saw the message and called me on my cellphone. When we went to retrieve our boy the security guard asked for our USB drive with the secret phrase on it. The USB drives performed just as set up to. It had my cellphone number, my boys’ first name (first name only!) to calm him down and his favorite treat.

To say the least, D-land security was very impressed and the ‘finder’ equally impressed and my redhead boy was wearing M&M’s on his lips and chin.

There it is. Not only can you retrieve lost USB drives with this you can also find lost kids. Thank you!

Anti-Pirate Dogs In Danger

Yikes! Two of Malaysia's (one of a kind) anti-piracy dogs, Lucky and Flo, trained to sniff out chemicals in DVDs, VCDs and CDs, have become a major threat to our country's pirate overlords through a raid amounting to RM10 million. Both of them are now wanted dead. The amount of the reward was undisclosed, though.

Sources:
1. Engadget "DVD pirates put out his on Lucky and Flo the crime dogs"
2. Star Online Nation "Three remanded over RM10m disc seizure"

Related link: Star Online TechCentral "Pirates should 'Beware of Dog' "

Friday, 23 March 2007

Our Shuttler's World Rankings

Great news! Our recent "super" doubles team Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are now number 10 in the world rankings! Our other doubles shuttler team in number 6 are Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah. Full rankings here.

Malaysia's Datuk Michelle Yeoh to Wed

Our very own Datuk Michelle Yeoh is to marry Ferrari racing team boss Jean Todt and three banquets will be held in Malaysia, Italy and Hong Kong. However, a date has not been set, yet.

Source: Star Online Nation "Michelle planning 3 wedding banquets"

Thursday, 22 March 2007

Don't ever feel you are unlucky because there are worse...

Learnt about this from Jeff Ooi's blog "Screenshots" where he described about Aisya's medical condition called Fraser Syndrome where her eyelids are fused, fingers webbed, hearing impaired and larynx partially shut. Fellow blogger Daphne Ling had alerted him about this.

Aisya had undergone a surgery to create eyelids for her from tissue from her lips but the operation failed as the eyelids were fused back together.

Latest updates from Daphne's blog post "Spare Your Change: Help Aisya...".

Winning Photos That Say More

Check these photos out from Reuters Blogs "Unfair competition":

Arko Datta won World Press Photo 2004 with this picture of an Indian woman mourning the death of a relative killed in the Asian tsunami catastrophe.

Akintunde Akinleye won first prize in 2007 World Press Photo Spot News (Singles) for this picture of a man washing soot from his face at the scene of a gas pipeline explosion near Lagos.

Finbarr O’Reilly, a Reuters photographer based in Senegal, won the World Press Photo of the Year 2005 with this picture of a mother and child at an emergency feeding centre in Tahoua, Niger.

Heroes May Die

Tim Kring revealed to SciFi.com that the season finale will be aired 23 May 2007 and will be titled "How to Stop an Exploding Man". GASP! And for those of you that are fond of some of the heroes, bad news. One or more may have to die. And this sets up for Volume II, which is season 2 in ordinary human language.

All is not what it seems as I had blogged in "New Heroes". I am still quite confused and I have read the following quote a few times, but will there be a cliffhanger or not? Please tell me!

The season finale will also set up the show for season two, Kring said. "There is a cliffhanger quality to some of the episode, but more in terms of what is the fate of some of our characters, as opposed to what the story is going to be."

Wednesday, 21 March 2007

That Scarf That Goes Around That Neck

I have seen my friend, Hobb wearing scarves many, many... errr... come to think of it, "a few times" sounds more appropriate. I remembered asking her if she likes it and yeah, she likes to wear scarves. Have not met her for ages, and then, today, WikiHow came out with a tutorial about "How to Tie a Silk Scarf". Right, I do not have many friends that wear scarves, so immediately, I remember Hobb. Don't know if anyone's done any dedications before in blogs, but Hobb, this entry is dedicated to you!

And Booker, if you have not known, Hobb is our mutual friend.

Monday, 19 March 2007

Breaking Down Carbon Dioxide The Human Way

During our schooling days we learn that plants perform photosynthesis during the day. This process breaks down CO2. The plants will then release oxygen (O2) and use the carbon to grow. Only a few days ago a friend mentioned to me that it would be great if we can break CO2 and get O2. Well, base on NewScientist.com, it is possible. Some researchers are doing just that by trying to emulate nature's photosynthesis process. How? Check it out here.

Among Hybrid Animals

Last week, National Geographic News published an article about recent research and findings that sex between animals of different species is widespread and may spawn many new species (!?!??!).

This process is called hybrid speciation: Two animal species can mate to produce a third species that is capable of reproduction. This third species will then mate with either one of the other species and pass on its genes, producing more hybrids.

Reading further into this article, it seems "different species" referred to same kind of animals but of different errr... how to word this... like in the article butterflies with yellow markings are one species and butterflies with red markings are a different species and these two species mate to produce the third species with both red and yellow markings. It is not as drastic as a dog and a cat mating... phew! Newly identified examples are insects and fishes.

Source: National Geographic News "Interspecies Sex: Evolution's Hidden Secret?"

So errr... word of the day: Hybrid Speciation

Sunday, 18 March 2007

road to nowhere..


road to nowhere..
Originally uploaded by carlos jm.

carlos_jm's photo reminds me of the Jerry Bruckheimer production company logo. That aside, nice photo with a suitable title.

Gruesome Punishment

The Star Online World news update "Taliban chop drivers' noses, ears in Afghanistan" reported that the Talibans chop drivers' noses and ears off as a punishment for transporting supplies to US troops. Previously, many videos of the Talibans slicing off heads of live prisoners were widely distributed through e-mails. This war is truly becoming one of violence...

Thursday, 15 March 2007

Malaysian Tourism Website Is UN Standard

Nice to hear from Star Online Business article "UNCTAD praises Malaysia's tourism website" that the United Nations Conference Trade and Development secretary-general Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi said our tourism website has relevant information at one's fingertips.

The official tourism website is http://www.tourism.gov.my/

A Tiger and its Pig Siblings

Interesting photo of a tiger cub living together with pigs after being rejected by its own mother. It would be interesting to see how things go when it and its new 'siblings' grow up.

Source: Reuters blog "Paging Christopher Robin"

another eye shot


another eye shot
Originally uploaded by SophieMuc.

More eye shots! This one from SophieMuc. Like the B&W with some colour in the iris.

Wednesday, 14 March 2007

The "Fat Talk"

LiveScience.com published an interesting article titled "Female 'Fat Talk' Mandatory, Study Finds". The article is about women's conversations will always lead to them saying they themselves are fat or some where in those lines. Hope I won't cause any controversy here but I do attest to such a thing. Quite a number, though I will not say ALL (!), of my female friends actually do eventually get into this topic even though we were all talking about something else.

How many of you out there agree or disagree about this?

Tuesday, 13 March 2007

Suddenly Koo-Tan

The newly paired badminton players of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are all of a sudden in the limelight. Basked in glory after winning the All-England for the first time in 25 years (without dropping a set), they did Malaysia proud. Let's hope they won't feel larger than life and then fall off the badminton scene after this. For now, they have a cause to celebrate with such an achievement: paired for only six months and went into the All-England unseeded, coming out as champions!

Photo from Star Online Sports "
New All-England champions now the pair to beat"

Malaysian Government Websites Unite

Well, not really. Previously, whenever we need to access any of the ministry's website, we would need to know its short-form. For example, if I would like to visit the Ministry of Education's website, the address would be www.moe.gov.my. Likewise, for Ministry of Health, it would be www.moh.gov.my. The good news is, from now on, to access any of these websites, we just need to remember the MyGovernment website: www.gov.my. From there, links various government bodies, latest news, information and services could be accessed. Now here is one step forward, though probably not a very large step... still positive, nonetheless.

!`~*


!`~*
Originally uploaded by Futo*aim.

Futo*aim's photo here shows an eye... with perspiration around? An eye in distress? :O

Oh Night.


Oh Night.
Originally uploaded by Simon Pais.

Simon Pais did a great job here with shadows covering most parts of the face except for the eye and some...

Monday, 12 March 2007

Be Aware of Hunger

Great to read off this article from The Star Online Central "Skip a meal to feed a child" which is about international humanitarian organisation World Vision Malaysia launching the World Vision Skip-A-Meal Campaign to raise awareness on hunger related issues.

Corporations are urged to encourage staffs to either skip a meal or have a light one and donate off the remaining sum of monies which they would have normally spent. Even so, the donation amounts were set at RM10, RM20 and RM50 for breakfast, lunch and dinner, respectively.

The campaign is hoping to raise RM50,000 for the World Vision Malaysia Children's Development Fund to fight hunger and poverty.

A Few Eyes...

Photo from yellowrubberduck's "The eye" inspired me to do a brief search on Flickr for more eyes and below are the results... enjoy! :P

Iris


Iris
Originally uploaded by Surrealist.

This is indeed a world of wonder! Surrealist managed to get really up close and personal with this eye. :O

Memoirs of a Bedouin


Memoirs of a Bedouin
Originally uploaded by -ViDa-.

Interesting ornaments surrounding an eye by -ViDa-. :)

Sign of the times...


Sign of the times...
Originally uploaded by Dalla*.

Great eye macro and great technique by Dalla*. I have heard of reversing lenses to shoot macros... but I still do not have any idea about it. Please excuse my ignorance and let's enjoy this photo. :)

The eye


The eye
Originally uploaded by yellowrubberduck.

yellowrubberduck did such a great work here... the tone is red giving the eye an eerie feel.

Sunday, 11 March 2007

"I Can Cut Thru The Sandstone Like a Warm Knife Thru Butta!"....said The Tree


"I Can Cut Thru The Sandstone Like a Warm Knife Thru Butta!"....said The Tree
Originally uploaded by taylorkoa22.

taylorkoa22 said he was pretty sure he screwed up the photo... but to others, it did pretty well! It gives me that dreamy feeling and the saturated colours are nice, too.

Cascade DxO


Cascade DxO
Originally uploaded by ecstaticist.

Great macro of drops of water by ecstaticist... and refreshingly green, too!

Halal Food Monopoly

I was rather surprised when I read from the Star Online Nation article "Malays urged to take control of halal food industry" that 80% of the industry in Malaysia is currently monopolised by non-Muslims. That is, according to the Prime Minister's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin, whom is also UMNO Youth chief.

Incidentally, in another article by Star Online titled "
Cash for appointments claims ridiculous, says Khairy", Khairy was alleged to having runners who will charge the public that wanted to meet with him. In one case, the fee was RM150,000. But of course, Khairy has denied such things.

Pirates of the Caribbean III Posters and Image Stills

Check out the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie titled "At Worlds End" still images and posters at IMDB.com's site here.

Saturday, 10 March 2007

EPF at Risk?

Update 11 March 2007:

Lim Kit Siang's blog mentioned that previously EPF had been into the banking foray through Bank Islam and Bank Pertanian where they suffered massive losses (Bank Islam suffered loses of RM2.3 billion in two years of audited accounts).

The blog also mentioned that EPF should also look into another example where Sime Darby ventured into the banking sector through UMBC and lost RM250 million in an undisclosed short period. At the time, Sime Darby's own CEO Azlan Zainol said the investment will bring long-term benefits and that they had employed specialists to handle the investment...

*****

Could our Employee's Provident Fund (EPF) be at risk? EPF just made an announcement that it will make a majority shares purchase from Rashid Hussain Berhad's (RHB) previous holding company Utama Banking Group Bhd. The purchase will be worth RM2.25 billion!

This has drawn criticisms from various parties with the primary concern that EPF has no experience in the banking sector.

Source: Star Online Nation "PM: EPF aware it is dealing with public funds"

Thoughtful


Thoughtful
Originally uploaded by csavules.

Very nice animal portrait by csavules.

Niu Niu

Niu Niu is a female panda who lost 2/3 of her front left leg in a fight with a group of pandas. She was saved, but not her limb. Chinese scientists are now appealing to experts worldwide to help suggest the best possible solution to an artificial limb for the panda.

Check out Yahoo! News' "Panda looks for a new leg" for a video of Niu Niu.

World's Friendliest Sitcom?

The IMDB.com's Movie & TV News article "New Sitcom to Offend Only Cavemen" sure has an edge to it, dripping with sarcasm. Here's the article:

Television networks may have done themselves in in their effort to mount successful new sitcoms while at the same time shying away from anything that might offend "blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Jews, Christians, gays, women, stutterers, the physically challenged, Tom Cruise if he's working on a movie for your studio, the Amish and even Beverly hillbillies," Washington Post TV critic Lisa De Moraes commented today (Thursday). That may be why ABC has decided to order a pilot for a new series called Cavemen, starring the three actors who appear in the current ads for Geico Insurance. De Moraes quoted a network spokeswoman as saying, "We felt it was a way of doing a social satire without offending any particular group -- other than cavemen."

Thursday, 8 March 2007

// and the moon has turned red over one tree hill //


// and the moon has turned red over one tree hill //
Originally uploaded by -bwr-.

Thought the eclipse craze was over but this photo taken by -bwr- is really great!

Do Not Underestimate Malaysia's Smart Tunnel...

The RM1.6 billion mega project tunnel not only helps to prevent flood by allowing overflowing water to go through its tunnel, it is also able to withstand earthquakes. First, it is underground, therefore it will not take the full brunt of earthquakes. Second, its circular shape will help to distribute pressure more evenly.

Source: Star Online Nation "Smart tunnel can withstand quakes"
Official website: http://www.water.gov.my/project/smart/no2/index1.htm

Equal Sex

New pedestrian traffic lights in Madrid will alternate between the normal male and the all new female silhouettes!

Check this out from Reuters blog "Equality of sexes: a pedestrian step".

Wow Factor: The US$3.3 million Photo

Folks, this is a £1,700,000, or $3,346,456 photograph auctioned to an anonymous private collector through auction house Sotheby's in London. It was taken by Andreas Gursky and it is called "99 cent II, Diptych".

Source: PopPhoto.com "The First $3M Photograph"

Wednesday, 7 March 2007

Something About Americans and Coffee

The 2006 National Coffee Drinking Trends report conducted in January via telephone on nearly 3,000 Americans, 57% drank coffee everyday while 51% drank soft drinks.

"Coffee is gaining a higher profile among American consumers as they enjoy an expanding menu of options amid an exploding cafe culture," National Coffee Association of USA Chief Executive Robert Nelson said.

More statistics from the original Reuters article "More adults prefer daily cup of coffee: survey".

Smoking Is Crucial

Reuters article "Smoking curb could 'upset China stability' " reports that banning smoking in a big way in world's most populous country could spark riots and instability. GASP! Zhang Baozhen, deputy chief of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration said:

"Smoking harms people's health, but restraining smoking threatens social stability."

His opinion was based on when the USSR collapsed, smokers rioted due to the fact that they could not get their hands on cigarettes!

Tobacco also contribute a hefty sum to China, amounting to approximately 80 billion yuan (US$10.33 billion) in tax PER DAY! What's more alarming, the World Health Organisation estimates smoking kills 1.2 million Chinese last year.

The Spider's Way...

Alright, here's some info on animal sex... umm... actually, it's insect sex. Spider sex. This very interesting article (let's face it, most articles about sex have impacts) from NewScientist.com is about certain wasp spiders. These male spiders have tadaaaaaaaaaa... TWO genitals (called pedipalps) for sex. Right after sex with the female spider, the male will detach the one used for the act and leaves. Ouch or not, that's not reported, but detachable sex organs... that's a wow factor!

Scientists used to think this happens because the males would need to escape fast after sex, else risk getting eaten by the females. But recently, scientists also discovered that the pedipalp left in the female after sex is more likely used to prevent other competing males' sperm from entering the female!

And here's another eye opener... virgin females mate for approximately 16 seconds while those already have a pedipalp plugged in have sex in half that time!


Source: NewScientist.com "'Chastity belts' block rival sperm in female spiders"

Tuesday, 6 March 2007

Lickin' Good


Lickin' Good
Originally uploaded by Edgar Thissen.

Edgar Thissen did another great job. Tiger portraits... and to make things better, they were looking straight into the camera. Brrr... scary!

Humour #2

Our very own Prime Minister was rumoured to have/or will be remarried. True or false? Well, the official word from Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself says it's false.

Anything goes, these days.


Source: Star Online Nation "PM: Reports that I'm remarried just rumours"

Humour #1

Caution! Strong language alert! Do not proceed if you are offended by strong language!

Someone making fun of anti-piracy messages :P

Quim en pleno vuelo, probando el estabilizador ;-p


Quim en pleno vuelo, probando el estabilizador ;-p
Originally uploaded by xip.

xip managed to catch this photographer in action during a marathon in Barcelona(?).

Sumatra Quake

Update (6:37pm)

Latest update from Reuters "Two quakes kill at least 70 in Sumatra" indicated the death toll reached 70.

Update (4:40pm)


There was a second earthquake 2 hours later measuring 6.0. Reuters reported at least 11 people were reported killed from these two quakes while CNN reported at least 30 were killed.


Source: Reuters "Quake kills at least 11 in Sumatra, felt in Singapore"

*****

I was waiting for my lunch in a restaurant and I felt myself slightly disoriented. I thought there was something wrong with me until I came back to the office and colleagues started talking about an earthquake.

Quick news reporting by Star Online, CNN and Reuters as well as the Malaysian Meteorological Department from the Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation indicated there was an earthquake in Sumatra. The magnitude of it ranges from 5.8 to 6.3, depending on which report and where it was detected.

No tsunami warning was issued as yet.


Sources:
Star Online "Quake hits Sumatra, tremor felt in Singapore"
CNN.com with the same title (both through Reuters)
Malaysian Meteorological Department website

Sunday, 4 March 2007

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, black !


5, 4, 3, 2, 1, black !
Originally uploaded by 45street.

Well, 45street managed to produce a rather nice sequence for the lunar eclipse earlier.