Running under the weather

Need to do my weekly exercise but the weather here today was not coorperating. It stopped then started again. And while I was making run around the park it began to drizzle heavier. 15 minutes into my run I have to give up my exercise routine as I was beginning to get soaked. Well better than nothing.

Pivot Blog

One thing about script list in the webhosting software section, they have a list of interesting software for content management, blogs, forums, online calendars, and other interesting software. Some of which you never think about searching online for it. So I happen to bump into this Pivot blogging software that don't even use SQL database management! Intriguing. Will install it and have a look see. Of course my ultimate blogging script is still Wordpress, but there are a lot of CMS cum blogging script software out there to experiment with.

In case you choose something not so well known, do note that some project actually died! So don't choose a less well known project for your main or major blog website. Because when it loses support, you won't get the needed updates especially to clog up any vulnerabilities against pesky hackers attempting to break into your website and deface your contents!

Making website

I guess for newbie when making website may be difficult to grasp certain concept. But if got soem guidance better than none. I may not be expert but having maintain one for 5 years and several others for many years there is indeed a lot of things to learn. Mind you, you can't just learn them overnight. It takes time to understand why some ways are better than others.

The most basic concept that I learned was from the SBI system. Using the long time tested C-P-T-M idea it has nevered failed and works just as well on a non-SBI hosted website. Although it may missed some amout of automation process I still get interesting results.

So learn the SBI system for making website. It sure works and gets good returns!

Weekly family dinner

It is good to have this weekly family dinner to have this family closeness. If one were to follow the empty nest syndrome then all family relation would be lost. Even though parents and sons / daughter may not be living together (for good reasons too like avoiding the usual parental nags) a weekly family gathering is good for fostering good family ties.

Seniors need something to look forward apart from having a grand child you know the usual "when you will have a children to pass on the mantle" thingy.

so a weekly family gathering is something good to look forward.

Assembling the baby cot

Assembling the baby cot is sure ain't easy. Dismantling it was quite a jiffy. But putting it back together single handedly is really tedious.

My brother-in-law has no more need of the baby cot and we could use a hand me down to save some money. At about RM600 is not cheap! Sure it is a bit worn but it saves so no need to complain about it. Baby will outgrow it soon enough and you will wondering what to with it when you don't need it.

For now I need to wrestle with parts and they are coorperating. Don't have any help as the missus is at the in-laws house. But when she comes back with the baby we going to need it. So have assemble it and get the baby cot ready for precious baby.

Make website to scout for business

Can't be denied. Make website for yourself is good in that it helps you to secure new inquiries. Then after that it is entirely up to you to follow through to secure the business. If your company is not keen to make a website, it is to their detriment. So what can you do? Of course company policy is to be followed but that's on their side. There is nothing saying that you can't make your own website for your own self promoting your personal services to sell company's product.

Make a website for your own personal career success. If the company you work for are run by timid managers who are afraid of this and that, better look for another dynamic company unless you find the work is relaxing or no other place to go. Or else think out of the box make your own website to promote your products and service indirectly selling your company products. I think it should work too.

Heavy Rain! Stucked in office

Must be the tropical monsoon. Well I'm stucked in office. Can't get to my car unless I want to be wet. With this kind of tropical thunderstorm even with an umbrella, you will still get wet!

No choice but to wait it out. Such heavy thunderstorm will blow itself out in an hour or so. Just have to sit tight and look for something to do while waiting it out.

What to eat

What to eat... What to eat? Sometime when you are on your own you may end up at a loss on just what to have for a meal. My wife is still my in-laws house for her maternity and it is quite a distance to travel over. I wasn't sure if they prepared anything for me so might be better if I go find my own dinner. Oh well, will just settle for a plate of fried rice with egg.

Black Apricot

Decided to get some fruits after dinner. Got this delicious black apricot fruit. Doesn't look like black apricot to me but that's what the sign said at the fruit stall next to Jaya Grocer in Jaya 33. Looks more like plum. Not cheap too going for RM7.50 each!

Took it back, chilled it and after peeling it, ate it. Tasted ok, not too sweet, not too sour. Value for money? Not really. Just giving it a try. Many of the imported fruits are really expensive here in Malaysia.

After free McD time for car wash

Not bad, not bad. McDonald gave a free Fish-O-Fillet set. I just top up with applepie for a dessert to complete my lunch pack. So that's my lunch meal for the day.

While having my munch may as well queue up for a car wash. Weekends is not my preferred date for a car wash as the queue was rather long. But I needed to have my lunch so may well go for it!

I haven't washed my car for more than a month, been that busy! And not only was it dusty, it recently acquired some bird droppings too!

So may as well now than who knows when! Since I got some grub I can munch some and blog a bit in between. Haha, my car interior got a fair bit of food crumbs from rush hour breakfast in the car and now McDonalds too! Yep, time to clean the car!

McDonald Drive Through free burger

Having done a little job now time for some grub. Guess what McDonald is having somekind of drive through promotion. Some free burger. We'll since I haven't got lunch yet and was thinking what to eat may as well give this a try.

Full Moon Baby Shower

Baby Aiden is fast approaching a month old. Hence the full moon baby shower celebration done by us Chinese.

Aiden is growing well. A little chubby on the cheeks. Must all the goodness of mother's milk. He kinda active little fella when he's awake. He will look here, look there, crane his neck to see I don't know what is it that spook his curiosity.

That's a good sign of healthy growing baby. A baby that is making so much movement or even making noise is always a relief for us parents. I remember a pastor once said restless children though disturbs the peace is much better then if they are quiet which would make you worry as that is a sign they are not well.

so come this weekend is happy full moon day and a little baby shower for baby Aiden!

Using blogger layout

Using blogger layout system is a little bit more difficult but it has added features the old template style do not have.

I finally came around to switch my CH website blog to the new layout system and it took me the better part of a day to get the look and feel similar to the previous template.

I could try making it 99% similar looking it would take too much work. I guess an 80% similarity is good enough. The color theme still matches as per the nav menu. I opt for a wider right side bar after all quick blogs tend to be short so a narrow body might be better suited. Besides it is using a fluid width template so it doesn't matter if my right takes up more space.

The Blogger new layout is a little tougher to get working but I was able to do it much faster than before by using this go blog layout template and modify from here. Just a matter of changing colours and alignment adjustment and there you have it!

Always updating stuffs

I'm always updating stuffs on my website. Sometimes it is just minor, like correcting a little typo here and there for those more important articles and pages. And other times to create meaningful links between related post so that visitors to your website might want to read further after landing onto one of your pages. Seems like a never ending job. But that's how it goes if you want to make website that is useful and the best perhaps even rival against your competitor for the coveted top spot in SERP.

Just like now I'm thinking how to use Google Blogger new layout, so how do I port over the old tabled web page design to the CSS tableless template? This might require some thinking about, and there may be some layout that may not fit. But as long as the general look and feel is there, I should be able to cobble up a web page template that should look similar to the previous one.

If I managed it, my SBI site would probably start using the tableless CSS template too. But I probably be unlikely to update my 250+ pages one by one like I did previously. Just way too much work!

And why should I port over? To take advantage of Blogger's new features not available in the older HTML template style. And ya, it may be a pain to code XML style, but it would certainly be worth it to gain the additional features!

Domain Expired

Oh, dear! Bluehost sent an email saying my domain would be renewed for free by giving me a free coupon. But I noticed they didn't renew my domain at all it is already 1 day pass expiration date. Bluehost support couldn't do anything and said I should check with the billing department. Since it was Sunday I will have to wait till Monday for a reply. No choice but to send in a ticket and hope they will set the correct expiry date. I think any moment now my website will be down. Let's hope they can do it on time!

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[update 21/6/2010]
Thank goodness! Bluehost managed to resolve this issue quickly! My domain was not down at all. Bluehost is not too bad when it comes to customer service.

Bluehost prices has been increasing lately. Probably cost has increased. For example if you take a yearly web hosting service, it is now $8.95/mo, up from previous $7.95/mo. And if you want to take up their $6.95/mo offer, it used to be for a 2-years period, now it is 3-years. Well, since I'm going to be with them for a long while, I went for the 3-years webhosting and save some money.

And they use to give whois privacy for free, now it is chargeable, just like godaddy, exabytes, etc. Oh, well, this service is nice, but not necessary. Just use a stonger anti-spam for that public email.

What Makes A Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea.

The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight.

The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need.

Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Today at church we are celebrating father's day and the children church gave a nice Father's day presentation.

And of course we have the Father who is in heaven who look out to us.

Father's day celebration first started in June 1910 in honour of fathers though mother's day had been celebrated for a longer time. It became very and spread throughout the world

Happy Father's Day!

Streamyx is down yet again!

Welcome to boleh-land where nothing works right. Malaysia is vying for high income develop nation status and yet the simplest of things like a decent broadband internet connection still cannot achieve. Yes, I'm kvetching again at the lacklustre Streamyx service.

I was having off then on connection whole day long. At first I thought it was my PC, but then I realised it was TM/Streamyx fault. The connection sputtered on like a lame duck. I have to force click several times on a link to get a web page to refresh. Trying to do some work was a slow process.

And finally this evening while trying to update a web page, TM/Streamyx finally died out. And no amount of forcing the line would get me a connection.

Hurmph! Where's the competition to force Streamyx to improve their service? If this is the way TM is going about their broadband connection, you have better think twice about signing up on their UNIFI service. It ain't cheap and Malaysia broadband service is one of the expensive one around this region due to lack of competition. Monopoly is no good. It just shows it can't improve its services when the competition is sleeping with their promotion.

So where is that garish potong wayar ad to spur Streamyx to improve its broadand service connection?

Windows Messenger Error Code 81000306

Again I got Windows Live Messenger Error Code 81000306 in my Windows Vista. Which means I could not connect to the Windows Live Messenger server. There was this fix that I did some many months ago, and it still works.

 

- Click start
- Type: cmd (but don’t hit Enter)
- Right-click cmd.exe when it appears under Applications
- Click Run As Administrator
- Type the following: netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
- Press enter

 

It should work without rebooting. I must have turned on the TCP during one of the Windows update or something. But this didn’t help me on my office new Ricoh Aficio 2027 Multifunction copier printer scanner. Though I could send print jobs to it, but the scan jobs would not send to my PC. Still trying to figure that one out.

Lots of things to do today

It's good to take the day off. Yesterdays short run 7km race has left me with very sore muscles. So I can take it easy for a short while anyway and wake up late for a bit of rest.

Baby and mom is doing fine and today tried my hand at changing diaper. It was a good change and there was a few points to note when changing diaper. Should be able to do it correctly after a few more tries.

Decided to get back my blood test report from BP Lab which I took several weeks ago. Everything was basically alright except for higher LDL, but the HDL / LDL ratio makes it still ok. Bone density was at borderline so must cut back on my coffee intake. And strangely they detected possible gastric bacteria. Hmmm this is strange. May need further check on this or just go straight for medical treatment. And finally my liver show some unusual result. Could be an inflammation or fatty liver. Since BP Lab found they still owe me a scan I decided to do it today about 4pm and get it done with the test.

so while in between, I brought my dad-in-law for his dentures fitting. He will need a proper denture for eating. All this while I wonder how he eats with his current imbalance denture. it seems this dental clinic in USJ is cheap and good. So it is going to be a long wait in clicnic before it will be our turn and the aircon here isn't efficiently cool for such a hot weather.

Looks like I have to leave him behind while I go for the scan and retun later to pick him up.

All done and well done!

Made it! 55 minutes for 7km. Didn't hit the qualifying time of 50 minutes for my category but finished the race nevertheless. Well done!

MPSJ Carnival Run

All ready for the run! Hope to finish within my qualifying time! And I don't even know the timing required! Haha

Why Israel stormed the flotilla

Here is some intriguing info about why why Israel stormed the flotilla. As I suspected there must be a reason why Israel did what they did, just like why they invaded Gaza because the Hamas kept firing 20,000 rocket launchers into Israel. So here is the other side of the story that the media has kept it away from us. That's propaganda to you to paint Israel as the ugly enemy when in fact the real enemy is using the media to fight against Israel. Just like in WWII where the Brits and Germans used propaganda to either boost the morale of their own people while playing down on their enemy.

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Shalom from Israel

Dugit Messiaic Outreach Centre and Adonai Roi (The Lord is My Shepherd) Congregation, Tel Aviv

Dear friend,

Following the incredible amount of negative press Israel has received in the world media, we felt compelled to write something to you from our hearts as we see events unfold from this side of the world. If you love and support Israel, we understand that you may be feeling confused by the accusations against Israel and wondering if there is some truth to the horrific stories. Did Israel really initiate unprovoked violence against a peaceful attempt to take humanitarian aid to Gaza? The world media were quick to send this headline around the globe but it was far from the truth!

There is a legal, legitimate maritime blockade in effect off the coast of Gaza. It was imposed with the agreement of Egypt when the Hamas terrorist regime took over Gaza. The Hamas regime has repeatedly bombed civilian targets in Israel with weapons that have been smuggled into Gaza via the sea.

"If ships were allowed to sail to Gaza without inspection, as flotilla organizers have demanded, nothing
could stop Iran from sending high-level weapons to Hamas in Gaza" said Binyamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel.

From the beginning of this situation the 'peace' activists have stated their intention was to storm the blockade. Thousands of tones of humanitarian aid is transported from Israel to Gaza by road every week through legitimate relief organizations like the UN and the Red Cross. Israel offered to transport the aid brought by these boats via the usual over-land routes once it had been inspected for weapons. The organizers refused to follow the legal path and intended to force Israel's hand by ignoring all warnings from Israel not to breach the maritime blockage.

After repeated warnings were verbally rejected over the radio by the ships captains, the Israeli Navy boarded the ships in order to re-direct them to an Israeli port in order to inspect the cargo and then transport it on to Gaza.

The Navy was unprepared for the level of violence they experienced on the lead Turkish ship, the 'Mavi Marmara'. "We prepared for an operation involving light resistance," said one navy officer, "We did not expect that the soldiers would be met by a mob armed with bats, knives and metal pipes." The soldiers were armed with paintball guns to minimize harm. Another officer said "We thought there would be verbal and passive violence, but not to the level we encountered. Everyone who came towards us wanted to kill us. We encountered terrorists who wanted us dead, and we used all the means at our disposal so that those who shouldn't get hurt would not."

The truth is that this was a politically motivated attack disguised as a humanitarian initiative by those who want to bring harm on Israel: Either through violence or through media propaganda.

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A Personal response from Chaya

A letter from my heart;

When the Navy commandos repelled onto the ship from the helicopters, the terrorists on the Marmara were divided into groups and were organized and ready to attack. The Israeli authorities were taken by surprise at the violence of this attack. The soldiers were not prepared for a vicious mob.

Our Israeli soldiers were very restrained and careful, equipped with paintball guns to minimize harm. They were only given permission to fire their personal side-arms once the situation was out of hand and their very lives were in danger. Their aim was to disperse the rioters not to take lives.

One young Navy seal now has brain damage from being beaten so badly when he boarded the ship; another was thrown 3 stories to the deck below and then stabbed in the stomach. Another was hurled from the deck into the sea; others had serious injuries from being attacked. These were well trained navy seals - the attackers where not innocent civilians, they knew how to attack soldiers.

This was not a humanitarian mission - the motive was always political with violent intentions; they even refused to deliver a package to Gilad Shalit, from his parents. (Shalit is a 24 year old Israeli soldier who was kidnapped on the Gaza border 4 years ago by Hamas. Until today Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross to visit him.)

The terrorists that were killed were carrying thousands of dollars in cash and had no Passports or I.D. It is suspected that they are connected to Global jihad affiliated organizations. Known Islamic extremists were identified as passengers on the ship. The intent of this ship was not to bring humanitarian supplies to the people in Gaza. (The organizers had been told by the Israeli authorities that the supplies would be delivered to Gaza once they had been checked for any illegal weapons.)
The intent was to stir up political pressure disguised as a humanitarian aid project to the people of Gaza. Thousands of tons of food and supplies are already being transported into Gaza through Israel every week.

The U.N. condemned Israel. The world showed their disapproval. People may say: we don't hate the Jews but we do not like Israel or her policies. I say to you that is deep rooted anti-Semitism.

Israel is a nation in shock after hearing all the lies that are being spoken against her all over the world. It is interesting that no one condemns the terrorists, who knew that Israel could not allow them to sail to Gaza because of the blockade and therefore came prepared to attack any Israeli who would stop them from doing so.

Today I am wearing a Navy Seals T-Shirt in honor of our brave soldiers, who were doing their jobs, boarding a ship that was challenging Israel's sovereign right to protect her borders.

Where does our help come from? Israel's help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth and our Messiah Yeshua!

Please pray for us - the nation of Israel needs your prayers. Pray for protection against all who would come against her and for her people scattered all around the world.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)


In our Messiah,

Chaya Mizrachi