Mysterious Ghost(s) in Port Dickson

Very reluctant to come to work this morning and was very reluctant to step into the work compound. The thought of more archeological findings did not send any thrill. However bad, still stepped into the office and clocked in. After loading up Windows Vista and checking out The Star Online, I had the chills.

A security guard had reportedly seen ghost(s) - white figure with red eyes and long hair. He returned back to his control room with scratch marks on his face that disappeared after washing. Gosh.

Artifacts Found During an Archeological Expedition

Found these ancient artifacts left over by some previous civilisation while digging up the ground at work. Radio, mineral water bottle and clothes hanger. Suspect that the radio was used to communicate with our ancestors from another planet. The water bottle must have been left over by someone who saw something too important that he/she had to be vapourised. The clothes hanger - had to be left over by some superhero that came too late.

Also mentioned here.

A Day in the Life of A Filthy Rich IonBuck

Some where out there, in another alternate timeline, there lives a filthy rich IonBuck and here's a day in, theoretically, my life:

• 6am - Sleeping
• 7am - Sleeping
• 8am - Taking a leak.
• 8:02am - Back to bed.
• 9am - Opened one eye to see what's the time. Back to sleep.
• 10am - "Nasi lemak with ayam goreng," to the voice activated food replicator that only the filthy rich can afford. Continued to stretch on the water bed.
• 10:30am - Soaked in the auto-cleaning bathtub that can also clean teeth without brushing.
• 11am - Still soaking. The bathtub has a feedback mechanism to keep the water temperature at a certain preferred level.
• 12pm - Bathtub transformed to jacuzzi.
• 1pm - Lunch! "T-bone steak, medium rare," to the replicator, forgotten about the nasi lemak.
• 1:30pm - Sitting around wondering what to do for the rest of the day. Located the gallery of high end DSLRs. Have not bought anything since 3 months ago. It's time for camera shopping!
• 1:45pm - On the way to the biggest shopping mall in the Lamborghini hovercraft. Have not managed to buy any driving license so going on autopilot.
• 2pm - Reached mall. Going straight to camera shop but stopped by a bar for a shot of whiskey.
• 2:30pm - Stomach burning! What a cheap whiskey!
• 2:35pm - Entering camera shop to a warm welcome with red carpet and all.
• 2:40pm - Bought 20 Nikon D90 for children in the less fortunate third world to photograph and show the rest of the world how fortunate they are.
• 3pm - Bought 1 Nikon D3X. Leaving shop but eyes set upon the new Panasonic Micro Four Thirds DMC-GH1. Decided to get one, too.
• 3:15pm - Calling Lamborghini hovercraft to autopilot home with my latest Sony Ericsson Nokia Apple Xperia NPhone. Activated the Buckmobile to pick me up at the mall.
• 4pm - Took the Buckmobile for a stroll around the countryside to test out my new Nikon and Panasonic. Snap, snap, snap.
• 5pm- Snap, snap, snap.
  
• 6pm - Snap, snap, snap.
• 7pm - Sent some excellent shots to world famous Yellow Frame Magazine. Thinking of writing some articles for the magazine.
• 7:01pm - Thinking where to have dinner. Ah. Some high cholesterol fast food would be nice.
• 7:10pm - Yum. KenD tastes good.
• 8pm - Trying to burp.
• 9pm - Lazy to update. Going to bed. Good night world!

Microsoft Windows Package Evolution

Go here to see how it started from this:
to the soon to be this:
And there are some funnies in the gallery showing how difficult it was to open the Windows Vista packaging. Looks like poor Vista failed even before it got out of the box. :(

Rats to Take Over the World

That may not be a reality anytime soon, but these two pet rats, Moppy and Witje, were trained by photographer Ellen van Deelen to pose for photos. Lovely. Maybe we will learn to love rats, even the wild ones, one day. Then, there may be peace on earth.

via Telegraph.co.uk.

Rachael and F70EXR

Looks like Rachael the Android is coming soon as Xperia X3 from Sony Ericsson. She continues to surprise by implementing 3.5mm microphone jack, microSDHC flash memory and microUSB! Besides those standard technology that Sony Ericsson failed to add to their devices until now, Rachael will bring along AGPS, 10mbps of HSDPA and 2mbps HSUPA plus 802.11g wifi. Sounds good. Too, good. We shall wait for the OFFICIAL announcement by Sony Ericsson. Oh yeah, the price, too.

Meanwhile, Fujifilm has just announced a slim 10x optical zoom (27 - 270mm equivalent) compact digital camera with their EXR sensor (supposedly super low noise). Only 22.7mm thick, it may be the slimmest superzoom around. Great! My previous favourite which I don't own and never used was the Panasonic TZ something series but this one is even slimmer.

With only 10 megapixels, this could mean the sensor has less photosites, which is a good thing, really. Less noise. Let's wait for the reviews to come in, shall we?
via Engadget and Engadget, respectively.

A Different World In Space Teaser

Taylor Swift! :D + ♥

Was searching for Taylor Swift's new song online and found her official Youtube Channel. :D Also re-watched the CSI episode Turn, Turn, Turn. Did not realise it was her when I first watched it. Only after reading the CSI Files episode guide did I know she was in it. She played a curious teenager turned rebel and then got killed by her adopted mother. :(

The PEN Story

Shot with the new Olympus Micro Four Thirds interchangeable lens camera, this stop motion of a lifetime is really cool. Even the song's nice. According to Olympus: This is the PEN Story in stop motion. We shot 60.000 pictures, developed 9.600 prints and shot over 1.800 pictures again. No post production!

via Photodoto.

My Blender Claypot

Finally, I got the courage to post something I modeled with Blender here. Yay! It's a claypot... or what I hoped it to be. This was inspired by a chat session I had with my buds. A little bit more about this claypot can be found here, where I dedicated it to my bud, OT.

Space, the Final Frontier

Our journey's only just begun...

All Those Hoaxes Debunked!

I'm sure everyone of us have received hoaxes in our e-mails or been pointed to some by our friends. Just that, probably, some would have received less and some, plentiful. It is the end of the world!

Among the top 15 hoaxes highlighted by Mashable, I've only encountered a few of them:

1. The Montauk Monster - never believed this and am not believing another one with a mermaid skeleton either.
   
2. How to Charge an iPod with an Onion - maybe I would try this but I don't have an iPod. Phew!
   
3. The Derbyshire Fairy - never believed this.
   
4. Bill Gates Wants to Give You Money - I've got plenty of these and am proud to say that I did not forward any
5. Hercules the Dog
6. Bigfoot's Body - this was widespread across the internet and by the time I read it, it was already a hoax.
   
7. The Blair Witch Project - I was too young then, without broadband (or even dialup, I think!) and so many people were saying it was real. Luckily I've not seen the movie. I heard the camera shakes more than Cloverfield. By the way, J. J. Abrams' got quite some interesting movies lined up in the next few years. There's an untitled Earthquake project. Wonder if the camera shakes as violently as the earthquake depicted in the movie or maybe it's just a code name for a very peaceful movie about a lake with very still water...
   
8. Hurricane Lili Watersprouts
   

Oh my, my "only encountered a few of them" sure was an understatement. It's over half of them! Why those hoaxes!

via Mashable.

New RM50 Note

Bank Negara has launched new RM50 notes with new enhanced security features:
A list of all the features is available at Bank Negara's website. Read about this new note both in The Malaysian Insider and The Star Online but they did not provide any pictures so I went to Bank Negara for the pictures. Hopefully Bank Negara allows hot linking to these pictures.

Harry Potter and the Gallery of Ages

Now that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is getting really close, Life's got a gallery of the stars when they first appeared in the first movie until present day. Check them out!

I Want IKEA Solar LED Desk Lamp!

I take special interest in these Sunnan LED desk lamps because ONE - I like renewable energy stuff (but most of the time too expensive) and TWO - buy one, IKEA will donate one to children who are without electricity in refugee camps and villages in remote areas through UNICEF. Unfortunately, after going through IKEA's current catalogue and website here in Malaysia, these lamps were no where to be found. :(

I would love to have one to illuminate my deskt at night while using my computer so that I do not need to switch on the overhead fluorescent light. These will last 4 hours under a full charge and the solar panel can be detached and put under the sun during the day. Sounds great! It's a pity we don't have it here. :(

If anyone sees them in IKEA Malaysia, please tell!

from Inhabitots via Inhabitat.

Where to Submit Gmail Suggestions

I've been using Gmail for years now. Previously, I've got various e-mail but now, I'm using Gmail to gather all my other mails using POP. Unfortunately, Yahoo! Mail does not provide such a service. The last time I checked, Hotmail or Live Mail does not have that, too. Not sure about now.

Recently, I tried clearing my mailbox and was trying to sort the mails by size but I couldn't find the filter to do that. Went searching briefly online. There doesn't seem to be such an option in Gmail at the moment. I tried to send in my suggestion for that this morning but I couldn't find the link to do that either. *SHY!*

Now I found it and would like to share it with everyone that comes by. You can submit suggestions at this link: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/request.py

There are already a list of common suggestions where you can just click on the "Suggest it" button. Sorting by size is one of them. There's also an option to suggest other things, too, under "I have another idea" right at the bottom.

Razakon Launch

Malaysia's going to get her second remote sensing satellite called the RazakSAT. It's scheduled to launch tomorrow, if there were no more delays. I didn't even know there was a first satellite. All I knew were the four MEASAT ones. I suppose with this name, it's dedicated to someone with the name Razak.

Which reminds me, our prime minister just celebrated his 100 days in power a couple of days ago. In doing so, he announced 11 gifts for us Malaysians (via The Star Online):

1. a 20% discount for motorists who pay toll 80 times a month via Smart Tag or Touch ’n Go from Sept 1;
2. some 44,000 low-cost houses in Kuala Lumpur to be sold to existing tenants;
3. a 50% discount on licences for petty traders in the Federal Territory;
4. a RM150mil allocation for entrepreneurs, and another RM15mil specifically for young Indian businessmen;
5. another 3,000 taxi permits to be approved soon;
6. expediting birth registrations in Sabah and Sarawak;
7. clearing the backlog of citizenship applications;
8. improving access to basic utilities in rural areas;
9. reducing the cost to obtain a B2 motorcycle licence (under 250cc);
10. setting up a new trust fund, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, for investors aged above 18; and
11. various measures to be announced soon to curb crime and corruption.

This appears that our current prime minister is truly diligent, intelligent and listens to the people. He liberalised many of our industries to encouraged foreign investment. He also gained a popularity rating of 65% and earned Dr. M's disapproval where he was said to have "more negatives than positives".

All these seemed like a good thing but let us not forget that it all happened after the 8 March 2008 general elections where our prime minister's government lost its 2/3 majority. We could view that our current prime minister is really good and can only get better or he is doing what he is now because he desperately needed to gain back the trust of the people. Go figure.

Whatever, it is always good to have a strong opposition. Look at the results and compare it to the times when the opposition is just a minority. This article by Hannah Yeoh pretty much sums up my thoughts - don't give up! We're bound to face difficult times when there are two sides fighting with each other, but this will also keep the both sides on their toes.

PS I would say our prime minister is really good if he solves a few high profile corruption cases, for example the PKFZ scandal and arrest that sorry cased ex-chief minister who made a resort for himself.

I Like This Keyboard

Look at this keyboard! The keys are protruding from the base. This makes cleaning the keyboard much easier. Check out the keys! The way they are made, the cleaning cloth will not get stuck to the sharper edges on keys you find in conventional keyboards and as you drag the cloth along, pull out the keys as well. Wow.
Sorry, I'm not blogging about Sony's Vaio W netbook. I was just attracted to the keyboard.

Photo via Engadget.

Disclaimer: I like the keyboard from the looks of it. I've not actually tried it. And for cleaning, there's always Cyber Clean for normal keyboards.

The Selangor Menteri Besar That Speaks Fair?

Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman Azmin Ali called for a reshuffle of the Selangor exco members during the state's legislative assembly. Azmin is a Pakatan Rakyat member. Pakatan Rakyat is currently the ruling opposition to the Federal government in Selangor. One would think Azmin will suffer a backlash from his own party members but I was pleased to read that the Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had these to say:

"Pakatan Rakyat allows for the differences in opinion and issues."

"We must now review ourselves and find out how best we can serve the people better."

Impressive.

I'm not here to blog about why Azmin called for the reshuffle.You can read about it by clicking on the link below. I'm just here to say I'm happy that a political party has a Menteri Besar that is open to suggestions. Hope I won't be disappointed by other Pakatan Rakyat members when Azmin's request sinks in.

via The Star Online.

Rachael Says Hi!

Sony Ericsson's upcoming Android phone codenamed Rachael (rumoured to appear in the form of Xperia) is looking good. Below is a video of its touchscreen user interface:

Got to know of this cool video through Engadget.

Blogging via GPRS

While waiting for pages to load up using our national broadband Streamyx, I'm testing for the first time to blog from my Sony Ericsson T303 with Maxis GPRS. So far faster than the broadband's 1mbps.

I've been facing this Streamyx slowness since yesterday evening. Looks like we have got to brace ourselves for this kind of stuff every month or so. Sigh...

IonBuck signing out.

Update 10:32am: Seemed to have found a good IP address at work: 115.x.x.x. We were on 118.x.x.x earlier.

The Anti-Road Accidents Kiwi Billboard That Works

This may appear gory but according to Jalopnik, there were no deaths since this billboard was erected.

via Digg.

While pandas are one of China's greatest, their search engine censorship is NOT

"There's a duck quacking in there somewhere!"

Not going to be surprised anymore when people do not switch their phones to silent mode in the cinemas. Someone did not turn off his/her phone during a presidential address!

via Phone Arena.

Crazy Wasteful Packaging

When I was much younger, much more ignorant of our environment, I used to think things like individual packaging were cool. They separate each items nicely, especially in food where they tend to stick together. Consuming them by holding the plastic packaging would help to prevent me from looking for taps to wash my hands. However, a quick glance at Treehugger's slideshow did somehow made me more aware of these kinds of packaging and how they contribute to wastes. Check out the slideshow here.

The things that made waking up early for work on Monday worthwhile...

ONE: My boss will not be coming in to the office for two weeks.

TWO: Found the list from Tenaga Nasional Berhad that detailed their major maintenance plan here in Selangor and checked that my housing area was not affected. It would be a great plus if my workplace is affected during working hours. :P Check if your area is affected by going to http://www.tnb.com.my/tnb/power_alert.php.

THREE: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim identified our prime minister as a Decepticon in his blog here. Proof below:

The visit comes after the White House said late last month that U.S. President Barack Obama discussed North Korea and financial regulations with Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razakon by phone.

FOUR: Nokia may be going for Android for at least one of its smartphones. I like Symbian, but I also like a true open source OS. Either way, I'm ok, though I must confess that I've used neither. Update 7 July 2009: Looks like Nokia is denying this move. :(

FIVE: It's already an hour into work and no disruptive phone calls. :) Sorry, I'm unproductive on Mondays, Fridays and working Saturdays. :P

SIX: Roger Federer made history with 15 Grand Slam titles by winning Wimbledon 2009. He beat Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. Not sure how did the final set of 16-14 happen because I am not familiar with that part of the ruling.

4th of July 2009 Disney-MGM Studios Fireworks

via Mashable.

Motorcycle and Trolley Parking... NOT!

This bike didn't look modified for the disabled and those trolleys... an hour or so later, this scene didn't look much different.

Alarm by MESAI

Check out this really cool 3D animation about alarms waking up the main character. Perhaps setting this video as the alarm to wake me up might be a good idea, too!

via Fubiz.

From Magick River: Different Thoughts 'Bout Smokin'

Caution! If you're easily offended by smoke and vulgarity and below a certain age limit, do not proceed further!

Came across this post via Malaysia Today. Can't help noticing the catchy title. It's the blogger's opinions on the over the top negative publicity about smoking and I particularly like these:

Indigenous peoples have enjoyed tobacco for thousands of years. They regard smoking as a sacred ritual. Tobacco represents the plant kingdom, growing from the fertile soil of Mother Earth. When tobacco smoke passes into the lungs it is charged with love from the heart chakra. As the smoke is exhaled, it is blessed with a sense of gratitude for life's pleasures, small and great, and offered as a fragrant incense to Father Sky. This is the sacred meaning of smoking when performed as a conscious ritual. Done this way smoking cannot harm you. Indeed, it can be viewed as a universal form of prayer, honoring the mystical connection between Heaven, Earth and Humanity.

Check out the entire post here.

Hi 2009 H2

Welcome, second half of 2009. What's next?

Time to sleep. Good night, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, world.