Why Those Helicopters!!!

Truly Malaysia Boleh! Today at the Dewan Rakyat, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop informed the MPs the decision to buy the helicopters that we were about to purchase but eventually put on hold was made based on technical specifications alone! GASP! Who would have thought that there was actually no need to test fly at least one first. The deputy surely clarified that it IS different from buying a car. Hooray!

Source: NST

From Pixdaus: A Photo To Ponder

This is something we should think about when we are about to eat too much (guilty here), waste food, and have too many clothes:

Panasonic Customer Service

Since I have had my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 for 3 years now, I feel that I should mention a little about Panasonic Malaysia's customer service after I had talked about Canon's in a recent post. I really don't have anything against Panasonic's services. It is even open half day on Saturdays, convenient for people who do not work on those days to send in their sets for repairs. I personally work on alternate Saturdays, so I could send my set in for repair on my off Saturdays. Anyway, my workplace is quite near the service center, so I could just do it during lunch time... skipping lunch, of course. GASP!

However, Panasonic doesn't do any immediate repairs, rendering their customer service as plain normal in that sense. Efficiency wise, tt would take as fast as the next working day OR as slow as a week, both which I had experienced before. However, these are just my experience for my FZ30 set. Other Panasonic products do not apply here.

From Pixdaus: Seal

Cute and cuddly! Must be very nice to hug!

Canon Customer Service

Some kind soul gave me an old 3.2 megapixel Canon camera recently. The LCD was cracked but otherwise the camera was functional. I was cracking my head on how to get it fixed since I just started a new job and couldn't really go on leave. Then, I found that Canon's service center at Peremba Square is open Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) until 8pm! Wow!

Hence, I visited the service center after work earlier in the evening and was presented with another surprise! Well, not to the point where I was given a brand new camera as a replacement. :P

The guy that served me (so happened to be the manager on duty) told me that the LCD could be replaced immediately (mainly because the part was in stock and it was a simple replacement)! It cost me RM103 but I suppose it is much cheaper than a brand new compact camera. :P

With such service, I was thinking if I ever upgrade to a DSLR, maybe it might be a Canon. Previously, I was leaning towards a Nikon because the lenses appear to be cheaper but now, the pleasant customer service is indeed a strong plus point for Canon! Before I left the place, I asked the manager if I would get the same immediate service for a DSLR and his answer was if it can be repaired quickly, it is possible. Sensor cleaning and basic servicing is also immediate (free first time but a charge of RM120 subsequently applies)!

For those who might be interested in my newly acquired oldie digital camera, I shall introduce it in another post at another time. Right now, I am feeling lazy. :P

Firefox 2 vs. Opera 9.6 on a Windows 98 Desktop

Here I am ranting again about my work PC running on a Pentium III and Windows 98 with 248MB of RAM. Running Firefox 2 (Firefox 3 doesn't support Windows 98, *sob*) on it is really quite slow, especially if I have something like Gmail (or Google Reader) and another tab with Flash or something similarly "taxing". Whenever I refresh the page, the whole Firefox 2 will occasionally stall for what felt like an eternity (but is actually a few seconds). Sometimes, it might proof to be a problem to exit the web browser quickly during "emergency cases".

Since Opera has been bragging about its browser being also very fast, I had to try it out, right? So I downloaded Opera 9.6 and installed it. GASP! It is even SLOWER than Firefox 2. A Gmail or Google Reader page will take ages (much much longer than Firefox 2) to load. I guess I don't have to mention how a refresh will be like.

However, do note that all the above might only happen on my ancient work PC (I know I shouldn't complain too much because there are more ancient ones than mine in existence out there) which might be worth billions in a few billion years. So, don't let this short complain stop you from trying out Opera, yeah? ;)

Note: The above links appear to be general links. When new versions appear, these links will no longer be valid for the versions described here.

Awesome Desktop Alternative

Check out this really cool desktop alternative from BumpTop! You get a 3D desktop where you can push your files around, pin them up, stack them up and then some!



Unfortunately, to try out this private beta, you would need to register and wait for an invitation. Can't seem to find the system requirements nor which OS is it for but from the looks of the icons, it appears to be Windows. Maybe I have missed out the obvious and someone can help to point that out. :P

Here is what BumpTop might look like on your real life desk:



via LifeHacker.

A Glimpse of Fennec (Firefox Mobile)

Check out a brief video below on how Fennec works. It seems reasonably acceptable but the scrolling is kind of jerky, even on a Nokia N810 internet tablet... imagine what it will be like on my 2 year+ old PDA! But then, this is only the first alpha...

Fennec Alpha Walkthrough from Madhava Enros on Vimeo.

I'm personally using the beta version of Opera Mobile 9.5 and you can find my opinion of it here.

Link: Mozilla Links

Cili Potong!

It's been awhile since I have any of my own photos here and I am at the moment out of ideas on what to post, so I went digging and found some spice:
What sauce(s) do you like to dip your meals in?

Lens Of Vision & Expression

Digital Photography School's got a guest post on their blog titled "Reaching Out to Underprivileged Children Through Photography" about how Samantha Oulavong founded LOVE (Lens of Vision & Expression) and how she went around helping underprivileged children. Worth at least a read!

Update: Samantha Oulavong's flickr page is here and the LOVE group is here.

From Pixdaus: Panda Feast

What an ideal representation of a Sunday meal. ;)

Left High and Dry by Ever Efficient SYABAS

The area I live in has been without water supply two days ago and today since around 12pm until even now. All these happened without warning. Nothing in the papers. This also happened some weeks back. This shows how efficient the Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS) is. Just went to their website and discovered this notice:

NOTIS GANGGUAN BEKALAN AIR BERJADUAL DI SYABAS WILAYAH PETALING DAN KUALA LUMPUR
Gangguan bekalan air dijadualkan akan berlaku di beberapa kawasan di Wilayah Petaling dan Kuala Lumpur disebabkan oleh kerja-kerja pengalihan paip di Jalan Susur Jambatan Lot 673, Jalan SS20/27 Petaling Jaya yang melibatkan paip bersaiz 850 milimeter jenis ‘mild steel’.

Gangguan bekalan air yang dijadualkan berlaku pada 14 Oktober 2008 bermula jam 8.00 malam hingga 8.00 pagi keesokan harinya melibatkan kawasan seperti berikut:-

1. Wilayah Petaling
PJ North, Universiti Malaya, Penchala, Seapark, SS1 dan SS2. SS20,SS21 dam SS22, Seksyen 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 17A, 19, 20, 21 dan 22, Jalan Semangat, Phileo Damansara, Hotel Eastin dan Paramount.
2. Wilayah Kuala Lumpur Bukit Damansara

Segala kesulitan amatlah dikesali. Para pengguna dinasihatkan agar menyimpan bekalan air secukupnya serta menggunakan air secara berhemah sepanjang tempoh gangguan tersebut.

Sebarang pertanyaan atau aduan sila hubungi Pusat Perkhidmatan Pelanggan (PUSPEL) menerusi talian bebas tol 1-800-88-5252 atau melalui SMS, dengan menaip PUSPEL jarak taipkan aduan atau pertanyaan hantar ke 39222 atau lawati laman web SYABAS di www.syabas.com.my.

It says 14 October 8pm until the following morning 8am but today is only 11 October 2008. Sigh...

INSANE: Day of Testicles

Today is a day of testicles... definitely. I came across two articles about testicles. Very different articles about different things but both have testicles "in" them. One of food and another of stem cells. Read all about them in their respective links. Time for bed. Nite!!!

Run For A Cause 2008

It is that time again for the Terry Fox Run, a run for cancer research. You can learn more about Terry Fox from my previous post or from the official website. I received the following e-mail:

Hi there,

The Terry Fox Run KL 2008 will take place on 2 November 2008 (Flag off 9.00 am) at Taman Tasik Perdana (Lake Gardens). Participants are to be at the assembly area by 8.45 am. All participants must run on the designated route. To participate, you can purchase a limited edition Terry Fox 2008 T-Shirt from the following locations:

T-shirts can be purchased at

1) Ms Chan Siew Wan / Ms Lee Siew Bee at the Canadian High Commission, 17th Floor, Menara Tan & Tan, Jln Tun Razak (6th October onwards)

2) Ms Yoon / Mr Peter Kang at the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation (CARIF), 2nd Floor, Outpatient Centre, Subang Jaya Medical Centre (6th October onwards)

3) Ms Tila at the Foyer, Ground Floor, Menara Citibank, Jalan Ampang (12.00 to 2.00pm, 20th October until 24th October)

4) At the Lake Garden on Run Day (2nd November 2008)

Would you like to be a volunteer? Please contact Ms Jo Tan or Ms Yoon at organizer@terryfoxrunkl.org

If you have any question, please send your email to organizer@terryfxorunkl.org

We are posting latest information at http://www.1.com.my/2008/09/03/terry-fox-run-kl-2008/ too

Pin

On behalf of Terry Fox Run KL

Surf the Net on the PDA with Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta

Update 9 November 2008: Recently, using Google Reader on Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta 1 has been slow, very slow and unresponsive. It took ages for the page to render and to star or share anything. :(

Ever since Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta 1 (note: looking at the general web address, this link will not be valid for Opera Mobile 9.5 beta when a new version of Opera Mobile comes out) was released, my 2+ years old Windows Mobile 5 PDA was given a new life. Before I installed the beta, I totally hated using the PDA for any web surfing because the Internet Explorer that came with it totally sucks.

I tried Google Reader with Internet Explorer and I got the mobile version of Reader which was bad, but at that time, I suppose all mobile browsers would link to the mobile version. It does not support any form of scripting, not even Java! This means I can only visit websites that belong to years ago!

I realised that I cannot hope for desktop web browsing with the PDA (my PDA resolution is only 320 x 200 vs a typical desktop resolution of 1,024 x 768) so after awhile, I gave up and only used the PDA for notes taking and some Nintendo Gameboy emulation. Then I heard of Opera Mobile and I downloaded the then version 8 to test out. It was much better than the mobile version of Internet Explorer but still lacks the actual feel of desktop browsing that most of us became familiar with but it did let me visit websites pretending to be a desktop. The browsing was painstakingly slow, though, if I utilise that mode.

Now, with 9.5 beta, I can totally surf the net with the PDA and get the actual desktop type of web page. It can default to load a full view of the web page and I can zoom in to the portion I want by double tapping on the area. The text are formatted based on the width of the PDA so I don't need to do any horizontal scrolling.

Some cons: The response time can be slow at times. For example, I might need to click a link a few times to get it loading. It also hanged on my quite a few times. Also, at the moment, 9.5 beta doesn't support Flash so sites like Youtube is out of the question. Maybe there are some plugins available but I am not that inclined to look for it. Besides, if I need Flash, it would be better on a monitor.

With Opera Mobile 9.5 beta, I can almost use my PDA as an internet tablet, just like the Nokia N7xx or N8xx series. ALMOST because the PDA's got a small screen and it's really not geared up for hardcore net surfing. It is ok for a relaxing surf in front of the TV, though. ;)

Note: All are based on my views on my PDA only. Other devices, especially those more advanced ones will vary greatly.

Next with Melamine

Looks like melamine is not only in dairy products. According to NST, the chemical is also in vegetables. Our Health Ministry will be doing a Level 4 check on greens coming from China after Korea detected high levels of the chemical in them.

What's next for melamine? What chemicals will be the next scare? Which country will be at the center of the next scandal?

From Pixdaus: Stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I definitely need a good stretch!!!

Heading home in a moment. Aaah...

Painted Skin Theme (畫皮主題曲 - 畫心)

I have no idea what Painted Skin is about but the theme song's been playing over the radio and it sounds good! Here's a Youtube video of the theme:

From Pixdaus: Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

Selamat Hari Raya to all Muslims out there. Today and tomorrow are public holidays but I have to work both days. This photo from Pixdaus truly represents my feelings. Sigh...