Firefox 3 Going for Guinness World Record

Mozilla is trying to set a Guinness World Record for the most downloaded software in 24 hours with the new version of its popular web browser Firefox 3. There is a webpage (screen captured above) that allows users to pledge that they will download the browser during Download Day. The actual date has not been assigned but do visit the website often for any updates. The time between the above screen capture and now (where I just refreshed the webpage) is only a few minutes and already an additional 3,000+ users have pledged!

Source: Spread Firefox via Slashdot

Biodegrage 'em Plastics!!!

Looks like a miracle is in the making. Remember how we always read that plastics will never biodegrade and will be in the landfills almost forever? Well, Daniel Burd, a 16-year old teenager, found the right microorganisms that can breakdown plastics! Two bacterias were identified: Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas. Beats me... I have no idea what they are but I am glad he found them. Lets see how things go in the near future now. Check out the links below for more information.

Sources:
"WCI student isolates microbe that lunches on plastic bags" via SlashDot

Childhood Buddies

This is inspired during a online chat session with my buddies. We were talking about a certain Japanese monster-fighting giant superhero. We used to watch the series during our childhood. The series were dubbed in Bahasa Malaysia, our national language. Hence, I try to show the hero's childhood, spent with a potential enemy of the future whom he might wrestle but in A Different World, there will not be any fighting... only peace. :)

From flickr: Sweet dream

Sweet dream
Originally uploaded by Huen *.

I felt just like this the whole time at the office today.

New Sanctuary for Rarest Gorillas

World's rarest Cross River gorillas, with only 250 of them left, gained a new sanctuary when Cameroon Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni announced the Kagwene sanctuary for the species' conservation. These gorillas were losing the battle to hunters and lost of habitat.

The other sanctuary lies in Afi Mountain, Nigeria. Conservationists are trying to form a chain of sanctuaries linked together so that the gorillas could travel freely and mate, ensuring genetic diversity.

Previous post about gorillas here.

Source: National Geographic News

Tasmanian Devils Listed As Endangered

Update 31 August 2008: A video about the evolution of the cancer devastating the Tasmanian Devil population can be seen here. New strains have been identified. Tasmanian Devils immune to the older strain might still succumb to the new strains.

The Tasmanian government has reclassified the status of the Tasmanian Devils from vulnerable to endangered. Suffering from facial cancer that usually kills the animals within months, these creatures face extinction in another 10 to 20 years!

The disease is genetically identical from a single cell line (errr... I really don't understand this part) in all the Tasmanian Devils and were spread through fighting with each other. The good news is, some of them have developed antibodies. There may still be hope.

Source: Star Online World Updates

Does Trash Degrade?

Here's a list of how long our trash MAY degrade if left out in the open:

1. Glass bottles - 1 million years (!?!?!?)
2. Plastic bags - 500+ years!
3. Plastic beverage bottles - 500+ years!
4. Aluminum cans - 80 - 200 years
5. Cigarette butts - 1 to 5 years
6. Newspapers - 2 to 4 weeks or more
   
7. Apple core - 1 to 2 months or more
   

Time to recycle!

Source: divine caroline via Digg

A Different Horse World

Trying to show a horse presenting something to us humans. Horses have been working for us for centuries... being our mode of transport, slaving for us.

I don't know how to draw a horse, so please excuse the crude drawing there. :P Hope it looks similar enough.

I Need a Window and a Plant in My Office

Or so it seems, according to a study published by LiveScience. Windows and plants will make an employee more satisfied with his/her job! The survey of 450 workers produced these results:

1. 82% of those who worked with plants and windows are satisfied with their jobs
   
2. 69% of those who worked with plants but no windows are satisfied
3. 60% of those who worked with windows but no plants are satisfied
4. 58% of those who worked with neither are satisfied
   

And another surprise is that men are more affected by this than women. :O I am male and the place I work in currently has neither. No wonder I am having satisfaction issues with my job lately.

My boss said that it's not good to have plants in the same room with you... it's bad feng shui, he once said. Hmmm...

INSANE: Oil Price Per Barrel Breached US$130

Update 22 May 2008: US$135.09 per barrel.

Oil prices today peaked (based on Reuters.com's latest update) at US$130.05. In the same article, a billionaire mentioned that oil could reach US$150 a barrel by the end of the year. *GASP!*

Previous 10 posts about oil:

1. INSANE: More Oil Uptrend
   
2. INSANE: Tanker Attack Brings Forth US$117 Oil Breach
   
3. INSANE: Latest Oil Peak
   
4. INSANE: New Oil Record
   
5. INSANE: I Lost Count How Many Times Oil Price Set A Record This Year
   
6. INSANE: Oil's Unrelenting Upward Trend
   
7. INSANE: Oil Tops My Previous Post In No Time!
   
8. INSANE: Oil Surged Past US$108
   
9. INSANE: Oil @ US$103.95?
   
10. INSANE: Oil Topped at US$102.80

China Mourn for the Dead

A list of how and why China is observing a 3-day nationwide mourning period for the victims of the recent earthquake (source: Star Online):

* Chinese tradition marks memorials on the seventh day after a death, as people's souls are thought to return to their homes seven days after their death. Mourning the dead after a week is believed to help grant them a better afterlife.

* Large-scale national mourning is rare in China, state news agency Xinhua said. It said the last time such an occurrence took place was the death of communist leader Mao Zedong in 1976.

* Car horns blared and sirens wailed as millions of Chinese stood silently for three minutes at 2:28 p.m. (0628 GMT), exactly one week after the 7.9 magnitude quake hit.

* Trade on stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and commodities and futures exchanges in Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Dalian, halted for three minutes from 2:28 p.m.

* All national flags are to be flown at half-mast in China and at Chinese diplomatic missions abroad from Monday to Wednesday.

* Condolence books opened in the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.

* The Olympic torch relay is postponed for three days.

* All cinemas are to close for three days, and "public recreational activities" suspended, state news agency Xinhua said. The National Grand Theater cancelled or postponed all performances.

* Logos of all major newspapers were printed in black. Advertisements were changed to slogans such as "we mourn for the dead, and pray for the living", or "may the dead rest in peace, and the living be strong".

* Popular websites Sina, Sohu and Netease ran in black-and-white. State broadcaster China Central Television also blackened its screen for the three-minute silence.

From Best Pic Ever: Big Zipper Lake

Update: Aiyah, apa ni... I just changed the size to fit and now the picture doesn't appear anymore. :@

Check out this huge lake designed to look like a zipper...

Zipping up a lake

Haze Returns

During this period of the year, it has become the norm for Malaysians to expect the return of the haze. Dry weather combined with forest fire (due to natural causes, forest clearing or crops clearing for the next planting season) with the majority of these hotspots from neighbouring Indonesia. To be fair, Malaysia used to contribute to the haze, too. Hope that is not happening anymore.

According to Star Online, there were 4 hotspots in Peninsula Malaysia, 52 in Borneo (not sure if this includes Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan) and 207 in Sumatera yesterday. Worse news is that this weather pattern is expected to last till September... which is a long 4 months...

Also, check out Sunday's Air Pollution Index from the Department of Environment's website here.

From Earth Shots: A fish, served with love!

Cool image seen on today's Earth Shots.

Earth Shots

Photo of the Day: 15 May 08

Ice Age 3 Teaser

Ice Age 3 - Dawn of the Dinosaurs teaser is out!

Incentive for Kids That Need Glasses

A survey of views from 42 girls and 38 boys aged between 6 and 10 by the Ohio State University produced the result that kids with spectacles look smarter and more honest. Parents can start telling this to their kids that need glasses without the need to lie. :P

Source: LiveScience "Kids Say Kids With Glasses Look Smarter"

From flickr: ___^__

___^__
Originally uploaded by A~~~.

How nice to be at the beach relaxing on a working day. And this beach is really clear with a blue blue sky. More sunblock required.

Mother's Day in A Different World

Got this idea today. A time for mothers to take a break and let the dads (and kids, of course) do the heavy lifting. ;)

Taiwan Zoos and Park Competing for Giant Pandas

China offered giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan to Taiwan in 2006 to ease ties. Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan mean "unite" when combined (tuan yuan). Since Taiwan's new president elect Ma Ying-jeou expressed interest in bringing in the pandas, Taiwan zoos and a private theme park have spent millions and presented proposals for the pandas.

These normally gentle animals are now looked upon as political gifts/symbols and tourist attractions. Very stressful roles indeed.

Source: Star Online "Taiwan zoos in fierce competition for China pandas"

Some past giant panda posts:

1. Pandas May Face Starvation
   
2. A Time To Grief: First Panda Freed into Wildlife Dead
   

Rice/Wheat Surplus Coming Soon

According to Reuters "U.S. sees record world food crops easing crisis", the current rice/wheat crisis is expected to come to an end in a few months. The US Agriculture Department (USDA) said good weather this year will provide bountiful harvests. For the period 2008/2009, rice output is expected to increase to 432 million metric tonnes, up by 5 million metric tonnes from the previous period.

The current food shortage caused major increase in food prices, particularly in rice over here at Asia. Malaysia had just bought 500,000 metric tonnes of rice from Thailand. Many people that I have talked to have mentioned that controlled rice (here in Malaysia, prices of certain grades of rice is controlled by the government so traders would not be able to increase prices as they wish) have sold out in major hypermarkets, supermarkets and sundry shops.

With this announcement by the USDA, we consumers should be able to relax a little.

A Different World #4 - Mature Edition

A slightly more matured version from the one posted here can be found in the 67 Blog. The original is as per the tiny image depicted on the right. Notice anything different?

A Comic Dedicated to a Friend in Japan

Ah! I am glad I can keep to the schedule mentioned in the preview. Here is the comic:

My friend (the human) went to Japan a couple of days ago for a few days of work. Seems like some work problem in Japan. Over here, in Cantonese, we call big problems as "sang fan shu" or directly translated to grown potato. Since my friend is in Japan, the comic depicted him trying to fight against a potato with Japanese features. ;) Hope you like it.

Preview: A Comic Dedicated to a Friend in Japan

A friend just went over to Japan for work and I have just completed a comic specially dedicated for him. Here is a sneak preview. Maybe I will release the complete drawing tomorrow night. :P

Twitter Layman

For my friends and visitors who don't know what Twitter is, here is something that should help you get started:

Via Digital Inspiration.

INSANE: More Oil Uptrend

Update 7 May 2008: Today, oil prices peaked at US$122.73. Tomorrow... US$123 and beyond? Source: CNNMoney.com.

I was not going to blog about the rise in oil prices when it reaced above US$120 but today, it went up as high as US$121.49. How can I not blog about THIS!!! The blame's on more attacks in Nigeria and Iraq and of course, rising consumer demand. Source: Bloomberg.com.

Previous 10 posts this year about rising oil prices:

1. INSANE: Tanker Attack Brings Forth US$117 Oil Breach
   
2. INSANE: Latest Oil Peak
   
3. INSANE: New Oil Record
   
4. INSANE: I Lost Count How Many Times Oil Price Set A Record This Year
   
5. INSANE: Oil's Unrelenting Upward Trend
   
6. INSANE: Oil Tops My Previous Post In No Time!
   
7. INSANE: Oil Surged Past US$108
   
8. INSANE: Oil @ US$103.95?
   
9. INSANE: Oil Topped at US$102.80
   
10. INSANE: Oil Continues the Post US$100 Trend

RM39.11 Million Spent on Space Tourist Project

Just when I was wondering what to blog about these days, the Malaysian space programme came out in the news again. Call it the Angkasawan project as much as you like but to me this is a hi-tech tourism project to send only a single tourist to space. Today, in the parliament all was made clear. A total of RM39.11 million was spent for this project: RM16.8m by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and the remaining by other government linked agencies.

I am still unclear on what benefits this will bring to the rakyat. Please enlighten me if you have any ideas.

Source: Star Online Nation "At the Dewan Rakyat: RM39.11m spent on space programme"

A Different World #4 - A Very Delayed Something for Earth Day

Something very much delayed since the sneak preview more then two weeks ago. Something about the environment in conjunction of Earth Day. Sorry for the delay! Totally my fault. No excuses! And to be honest, this will certainly not going to be the last. :PI am trying to portray here that the 'factory' that you see in the first panel is actually a solar powered plant treating the filth from behind. What you get is a better, cleaner environment. Those 'chimneys' are actually windmills (think renewable wind power). :)

A Revised Photo From Ching Ming

Previously posted in my blog here, I have sort of wishing for a sky that is much darker in blue so I just went and edited it and here is the result. Just a newbie kind of edit, so don't expect too much. In fact, I think I've overdone it. :P
You can find the original here or in my flickr here. My Simply Simply friend suggested that I include the original here, and since it is such a good idea, here it is!