It is always sad and much heartache when a loved one has to depart from the earthly home to a heavenly one. But that is life and we shall all go on that journey someday. It is just that some will go through it sooner than others.
Abraham Kenny Seow had good prolonged life considering that he was diagnosed with a terminal nasal / brain cancer four years ago. It was a fight that truly transformed him and strengthened his faith to the Lord.
As an elder brother-in-law, he has done some deeds that grieved family members, but eventually he has redeemed himself throughout the ordeal. And of course God sent him a good wife who stood by him for better and worse, who loved him and help him to turnaround his life.
Unexpected Road Change in Damansara Perdana
This is one of those days where you get caught with your pants down. The morning rush hour was under way with the rain the heavy rush hour traffic would be bad. But I never expected it to be worse as I made my way to the usual road interchange at Damansara Perdana Penchala Link for the U turn to head back out to Petaling Jaya via the LDP congested highway.
Surprise, surprise! The road was blocked due to modification of the road with the entrance pushed backed earlier at IPC/Curve shopping mall rather than below the underpass.
I believed many were caught unaware too as there was no way to make any U turn except to head out all the way, pay the road toll, to Sri Damansara Kepong and U turn from there.
Surprise, surprise! The road was blocked due to modification of the road with the entrance pushed backed earlier at IPC/Curve shopping mall rather than below the underpass.
I believed many were caught unaware too as there was no way to make any U turn except to head out all the way, pay the road toll, to Sri Damansara Kepong and U turn from there.
Google Panda update info graphic and Google Venice update
Happen to bump into this Google Panda update info graphic which gives a good quick overview of what this update is all about. And yes, this update is a real website traffic killer and it won't care whether your site is an authoritative site or not as long as your web site contain negative points that shows up in the Google Panda algorithm, you will be whacked!
So far I have tried to clean up whatever I can, but I have not seen any re-bounce to the website traffic that I had earlier. Perhaps my site still contained a lot of negative points which are deemed less useful and thus not worthy of inclusion into the better ranking on the search term.
On the other hand some sites owners seemed to have good inkling as to what Google wants and has managed to take steps to rectify their site and get better results. But with so many tweaking done by Google, chances are it is a long uphill climb to the former higher traffic for most of us hit hard by changes. I guess there are many points to fixing the Google Panda update penalty.
So far I have tried to clean up whatever I can, but I have not seen any re-bounce to the website traffic that I had earlier. Perhaps my site still contained a lot of negative points which are deemed less useful and thus not worthy of inclusion into the better ranking on the search term.
On the other hand some sites owners seemed to have good inkling as to what Google wants and has managed to take steps to rectify their site and get better results. But with so many tweaking done by Google, chances are it is a long uphill climb to the former higher traffic for most of us hit hard by changes. I guess there are many points to fixing the Google Panda update penalty.
Back to Work after so Many Holidays
It is back to work as usual after a string of public holidays in succession. Not just for the day job but also for my various websites. It is indeed very difficult to move to high gear having slowed down for awhile. This was not to say I took leaved, I still went to work, but the mood was not there to push for more sales. Besides the wretching cough and sniffling flu made it difficult. I'm still trying to recover from it, in fact it became worst the last few days with me losing my voice! Argh!
No choice now but to see the doctor again for a course of antibiotics and other anti-inflammatory medicine. According to doctor, if the flu and cough persisted for so long, it is no longer a product of virus as that would usually clear after a week or so. Most likely it would be suspected bacterial infection. Since it has cause inflammation, some anti-inflammatory medicine should help ease the transition for full recovery. Well I hope so, I have tried many traditional remedy and it didn't help, so looks like it was back to Western medicine.
This year, work would be a new challenge both for my day job and part-time. Since my pay is mostly stagnated and the cost of high inflation (no thanks to the current Government who is more interested on their own agenda than the rakyat) has pushed up the cost of living, supplemental income would become more important. No thanks to Google 2011 Panda Update and many other Google algorithm tweaks, my various website traffic has been reduced significantly.
No choice now but to see the doctor again for a course of antibiotics and other anti-inflammatory medicine. According to doctor, if the flu and cough persisted for so long, it is no longer a product of virus as that would usually clear after a week or so. Most likely it would be suspected bacterial infection. Since it has cause inflammation, some anti-inflammatory medicine should help ease the transition for full recovery. Well I hope so, I have tried many traditional remedy and it didn't help, so looks like it was back to Western medicine.
This year, work would be a new challenge both for my day job and part-time. Since my pay is mostly stagnated and the cost of high inflation (no thanks to the current Government who is more interested on their own agenda than the rakyat) has pushed up the cost of living, supplemental income would become more important. No thanks to Google 2011 Panda Update and many other Google algorithm tweaks, my various website traffic has been reduced significantly.
Google's Panda update is really killing my websites!
Whatever happened to the "Do no evil" motto of Google? Sure there may be spammy websites out there, but this year's Google's Panda update is killing my websites, including this personal blog of mine!
I could see from my StatCounter account, the website traffic plummeting! At first it hit my authoritative travel site, it went down by 60%. Along with it my income dropped 50% from it too. It was a lot of hard work compiling the facts and writing them, and had to contend with webmaster plagiarizing my site.
Later Google hit another of my travel site, which also reduce its web traffic by 70% and there after like a bulldozer it started to bludgeon all my websites! This month I see that it is also going after my blog with downward spiral of 70% from the original website traffic! I get only about 30% of the web traffic of what I use to get for the past many years.
I could see from my StatCounter account, the website traffic plummeting! At first it hit my authoritative travel site, it went down by 60%. Along with it my income dropped 50% from it too. It was a lot of hard work compiling the facts and writing them, and had to contend with webmaster plagiarizing my site.
Later Google hit another of my travel site, which also reduce its web traffic by 70% and there after like a bulldozer it started to bludgeon all my websites! This month I see that it is also going after my blog with downward spiral of 70% from the original website traffic! I get only about 30% of the web traffic of what I use to get for the past many years.
My blog website is down
Just my luck. Cynet the web hosting company is experiencing server rebooting. No wonder my website was so unstable! I thought it was a Wordpress plugin that I recently installed causing my entire website to crashed. But I couldn't log in to my hosting control panel too! Panic! I thought no way my plugin cause so much trouble! After submitting a support ticket, I found out that Cynet is experiencing unstable server issues.
In their own words,
Oh, well...
[update 11/11/11]
My website is back! But... I think Cynet used a previous back up, because my latest post as well as some maintenance update were missing! The maintenance I could do again, but the post! Argghhh...! I have to rewrite all over again. I didn't keep the Word document after posting it. Waste of my time writing and posting it!
Thumbs down from me for Cynet Hosting. I know, I know, this really budget hosting only costing me RM45 per year, so don't expect too much. Then again, the web hosting services are very competitive and there are many good web hosting companies out there. Aw, shucks, just too bad for me that it happened while I was making a post. Other than that unstable server situation, Cynet web hosting has been pretty decent so far.
In their own words,
One of our server currently in unstable issue that keep rebooting.
Date: 09th November 2011
Time: Since 01:00AM
We are still checking on the root cause.
All user website hosted under server (setali.cynethost.com) will keep experience a short downtime at this mean due to server keep reboot.
We will keep you next update as soon as possible and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
UPDATED PROGRESS
Date: 10th-November-2011
Time: 01:00AM
UPDATE:
The server still in unstable stage after we have update and reconfigure the server after 24 hours. We are now do a checking on hardware part by part and replace it if any problem found.
All user website hosted under server (setali.cynethost.com) still will keep experience a short downtime at this mean due to server keep reboot.
We will keep you next update as soon as possible and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Thank you.
Cynet Hosting Team
Oh, well...
[update 11/11/11]
My website is back! But... I think Cynet used a previous back up, because my latest post as well as some maintenance update were missing! The maintenance I could do again, but the post! Argghhh...! I have to rewrite all over again. I didn't keep the Word document after posting it. Waste of my time writing and posting it!
Thumbs down from me for Cynet Hosting. I know, I know, this really budget hosting only costing me RM45 per year, so don't expect too much. Then again, the web hosting services are very competitive and there are many good web hosting companies out there. Aw, shucks, just too bad for me that it happened while I was making a post. Other than that unstable server situation, Cynet web hosting has been pretty decent so far.
Should drink Farmhouse milk tho expensive; Marigold taste a bit weird
I found Farmhouse milk taste better though it is almost twice as expensive than Marigold milk. I know the milk prices has been hiking up unprecedented. If in order to keep price low by adding fillers into the milk, eventually it is going to taste weird. Many food price in Malaysia has been soaring as much as 30%. This is way above the official CPI of 5% which is incorrect. Milk is no exception and has been going higher and higher month by month. My colleague who has dealings with Nestle and Dutch lady often came and reported that they face very difficult price pressure from imported milk. Milk processing nowadays is just not milk, but it includes additives some for enriching such as calcium to give it a marketing selling point. But sometimes fillers can be used such as silica, though they are inert and passing through our gut harmlessly they do nothing for the benefit except to lower pricing and remain competitive in the market. I don't know what Marigold has put into their milk, but it sure taste funny. So whenever I felt like saving a couple of bucks and bought Marigold milk, I do regret as it didn't really taste like milk. I guess the best way is still to pay for quality and get Farmhouse milk which perception wise felt more like real milk! |
[20/1/2012 Note: about Malaysia inflation in relation to carton milk]
The official CPI or inflation rate in Malaysia is about 5%. But the actual is far higher since the official CPI can be manipulated (CPI rate is based on a basket of goods, some of which has very low or no inflation due to government controlled item, and those that soared, would be taken out of the basket so giving it a low CPI average rate eg housing and cars are not in the basket of goods) to fit the government propaganda machinery to attract foreign investment. For the man in the street, the CPI is meaningless. I recalled in early 2011 a carton of Marigold milk was RM4/carton. And early 2012, I saw Marigold was retailing at about RM5/carton, so that's about 20% increase in a year!
Device failure one after another! Must be Murphy's Law
Just my luck, I got several electronic device failure one after another. Must be Murphy's Law at work here! First after a battery change, my wife Toyota Wish car remote control didn't work. The Toyota service people should have known better than to change the car remote batteries. Now it needs to be reset in order to work. That's probably minor compared to my car remote when I accidentaly shorted my Toyota Altis car remote while changing the broken casing. Should not have used a screwdriver to pry out the electronics. Now it doesn't work anymore. Next was the old HP fax printer, the modem was strucked by lightning long time ago but still could be used for printing and scanning. While trying to print some documents, the roller was making a ruckus, and finally I got ink cartridge error. I could try buying a new ink cartridge since the current one was already very low on ink anyway. After giving it some thought better not. It could be more than just a faulty cartride because the roller was making such awful noise. Besides ink catridge are expensive and I would have wasted money if the HP printer would not print. So that' the end of life for this HP printer.  And finally the church PC which I was attempting to reinstall Windows XP. Well some people weren't too keen on using Ubuntu Linux though it would be far more virus resistant than Microsoft Windows. So I got down planning to dual boot it. The partitoning went fine without a hitch. Installing Windows XP was a different story. First round I got boot error. Strange, tried reinstalling a second time and the PC just hung after the initial booting diagnostic start up screen. Tried several reboot still got the same "hanging there not going anywhere" leaving me scratching my head. It could be the BIOS going crazy on me. For now the PC is not working. If the BIOS goes, the motherboard is just another dead wood. Schucks! And this good old Pentium 4 Intel 3GHz with an Intel 915GEV motherboard is a rather good piece of hardware. I should know, I picked the parts myself when I bought it in 2005. But now it no longer works. Argh! Looks like I will need some replacement hardware starting with a new printer like this Epson Stylus T13. Oh, well. |
[update 15/11/11]
Fixing my Intel D915 GEV computer system
Spend the better part of my late nights fixing up the good old Intel D915 GEV motherboard PC. Apparently the hard drive died causing the whole system to freeze up. Hard drive kaput means just change the dead drive without having to purchase the entire PC system, because if the motherboard died, it would be a major replacement. Unfortunately due to the flooding in Bangkok, Western Digital plant is underwater, and that plant account for 50% of the world's hard drive supply.
Which means there is a shortage of hard drive in the market driving up the prices 100% or more! When last I check some vendors are selling at double and some at triple the price! And in All IT Digital Mall section 14 PJ, much to my indignation the sales guy didn't even want to sell to me and was reluctant to give me any price indication!
I'm not going to spend that money yet until Bangkok recovers and Western Digital production is back online. Fortunately I still got an old 40GB PATA IDE WD 7200rpm drive. Well it won't be as fast as a SATA drive, but it will have to do for now.
Working on public holiday
Should have checked my calendar before saying yes. So now I will have to do some work on a public holiday, today. Anyway, it could still be a good point and show willingness to work on off day. I do get a replacement leave for it which was not too bad. However, my timing with wife and son would be a little skewed for matching. Anyway looking forward to another family time together next round. For now, show some work enthusiasm, hopefully would get into the good books of eccentric boss. Bible always says work not unto man for they will have a tendency to let you down but instead, work as unto a worship to Lord and build your treasure in heaven. For now, just be thabkful that I have a job, though it has poor direction, but I still able to sustain through all its misgivings and live through it to tell the tale and get an income from it! |
Time for car wash! At Esso near Damansara toll
Yeeach! Shouldn't have parked under the tree, it was splattered with bird droppings! So time for car wash! When will city hall organise a crow shooting coz the population is increasing and now my car is very beautifully decorated! Anyway it has been a long while since my last car wash however being a holiday weekend, most car wash centre around my house has packed for the weekend. Fortunately manage to find one at the Esso station just after the Damansara toll exit. Fortunately the queue wasn't too long as many people has gone for some holiday somewhere or balik kampung to see their family. Usually car wash centers are packed during weekends but this time round was rather short. My car washed and after back home applied the Rain-X for rain repellent. Most likely as luck would have it (in my experience) it always rains after you have washed your car! Haha! Cheers! |
MPSJ 10km Run 2011 Route Map and Event
Time to go for MPSJ 10km Run. Got the form and now signing up for it. It's been awhile since I last ran for 10km after laying off from running. Initially I went for 7km for the last two races, and this time round the race for my category is 10km. So it would be good to see if I can stretch to 10km this time round.
As usual the race will start from the MPSJ grounds and go around the Subang Jaya area and then back to MPSJ. I'm not a fast running so I would most likely take about >1 hour to complete the race.
The run will be on:
Sunday, 4th December 2011
Flagging off at 7am in the morning
Starting point: Kompleks Sukan Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ)
Might be a little tough for me though I hope I would be able to complete the race within the allotted time frame!
As usual the race will start from the MPSJ grounds and go around the Subang Jaya area and then back to MPSJ. I'm not a fast running so I would most likely take about >1 hour to complete the race.
The run will be on:
Sunday, 4th December 2011
Flagging off at 7am in the morning
Starting point: Kompleks Sukan Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya (MPSJ)
Might be a little tough for me though I hope I would be able to complete the race within the allotted time frame!
Baby 17 Months Old
My baby is 17 months old! And according to Baby Centre, "you may notice baby ability to do things by himself such as undressing herself, brushing her teeth without your help and tenderly nursing her dolls and stuffed animals. She's learning how to take care of herself, and others and she'll refine this ability as she gets older."
Well, he still a long way off for that. But I did notice he is asserting himself and wants things his way or he will throw a tantrum or fake cries. Can't be giving in to whatever baby wants as that is a sure way to spoil him. Loving him is sometimes requires doing some tough love, as he would need discipline. Because in future, a disciplined person would be able to take care of himself as well as others.
Well, he still a long way off for that. But I did notice he is asserting himself and wants things his way or he will throw a tantrum or fake cries. Can't be giving in to whatever baby wants as that is a sure way to spoil him. Loving him is sometimes requires doing some tough love, as he would need discipline. Because in future, a disciplined person would be able to take care of himself as well as others.
Ady boy beginning to assert himself and wants his way. I think time for discipline. Any suggestion for toddler this young?
Hmm... Ady boy beginning to assert himself and wants his way. I think time for discipline. Any suggestion for toddler this young? It would be good to start early otherwise it will become difficult when he gets older. Yet on the other hand we would like him to explore the world and learn new things for child development. Must be a way to balance what he can and cannot do. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android |
Super heavy rain, super traffic jam!
The heavy rain brought about a very massive Friday traffic jam! Took me double the time to get pass rush hour traffic. On top of that, almost had near collision with another car when the car ahead stop suddenly. Fortunately my brand new tires plus my quick reaction avoided knocking the car in front of me. Had to move away from the lane as the two lady drivers negotiate on their compensation. From my quick glance there was hardly any dent. Anyway the slow stop and go traffic made me rather sleepy and tired. And many parts of the road was catching the running waters slowing down traffic further. A flooded road was not so easy to drive. Eventually arrived home in one piece! Phew! Tired but at least home sweet home for now. |
Chartis Insurance Failure to Pay Reimbursement and many others
Insurance companies are not as trustworthy as before. They take our money easily but fail to reimburse when it comes to claims giving excuses such as non-failure to comply to some obscure terms or information or on a technicality. Chartis, MAA, IHM (now dead), and what other insurance companies? And yet, when Obama bailed out AIA, they have the gall to pay large hefty bonuses to themselves giving excuses that it was in their contract!
I have seen the failure of payment by these money leeching insurance company who find ways and means not to fulfill their obligation. It was so easy for them to say if you sign up for this policy or that policy they will reimburse you when something happens to you just so they can close the deal. But when it comes to actual claim, they will say you didn't disclose this/that, or the illness you mentioned occur on a different date stated or some other technicality. Simply put, they will wriggle themselves out from fulfilling their obligation.
I have seen the failure of payment by these money leeching insurance company who find ways and means not to fulfill their obligation. It was so easy for them to say if you sign up for this policy or that policy they will reimburse you when something happens to you just so they can close the deal. But when it comes to actual claim, they will say you didn't disclose this/that, or the illness you mentioned occur on a different date stated or some other technicality. Simply put, they will wriggle themselves out from fulfilling their obligation.
Default Cluster Size for NTFS, FAT32, exFAT
I needed to reformat my SanDisk 16GB USB flash drive to NTFS file format as I wanted to transfer a large 9++ GB movie file to view it on my media player box. So when the format dialog box came up, I was wondering what would be the best default cluster size for NTFS and what did the "default allocation size" meant.
Although I would like to keep my thumbdrive in its default format of FAT32, it was not able to handle any files larger than 4 GB. NTFS filesystem although has more features (encryption, compression, ownership, etc.), it would also mean using up more computer resource in Windows when processing files. Hence I still prefer the simpler FAT 32 drive format, but I have no choice here as the file size was greater than 4 GB. (Note: exFAT or extended FAT can store files larger than 4GB but this disk format is not supported by many media boxes, unfortunately! It was introduced to overcome the 4GB limit but due to lack of support from many devices, access to the files would be limited to Windows Vista/7 onwards.)
Baby Fall Down From Cot
Oh, dear! Baby fell down from the baby cot! Don't how he managed to climb out from it. Cry like mad of course! Will have to observe him as the height was quite high. Wife said it is time to use playpen where the side walls are higher and the distance from ground much less.
---[update 11/10/11]---
---[update 11/10/11]---
@klroadblock roadworks at entry to section 17 PJ from former rothman circle
What they doing? Blocking everybody |
Streamyx is absolutely bad today!
It's been a week long and Streamyx is still trying to fix its server or junction box or whatever. The connection is intermittent and if I do connect, is absolutely horrendously slow! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android |
[update 13/10/11]
How is one suppose to work if streamyx slows down to a crawl every few days? And this is definitely got nothing to do with the damaged undersea cable to the USA. Even accessing local website and data is so, so, so slow! Thumbs down yet again for streamyx. I think there is too many problems with streamyx for the month of October.
Streamyx down again due to Sg Way exchange problem
And yet again, my office streamyx was down again. Just last week we couldn't connect for more than 24 hours due to streamyx server problem. And now due to an exchange junction in Sungai Way the internet was down since 6am this morning.
Couldn't do any work until they fix it. So no choice but to wait for a few more hours. I requested to boss to switch to UNIFI. Perhaps that would resolve some of the frequent downtime of streamyx. The cost will double and there is no guarantee it will have more uptime since it is under the telecom company namely TM.
I have a friend who was complaining like mad about his poor download speed from UNIFI. Never getting the 80-90% of the stated speed. But basically UNIFI should be working according to as much as the stated figure.
Anyway never know until try. But once in will have to use it for the contract period.
Meanwhile my recent upgrade to windows 7 has left my dial-up modem dead. There is no drivers for it. So I can't even use the old slow dial-up to access internet.
Only a quick tap here using my mobile phone to kvetch a little!
---[update 11/10/11] ---
be weary of email misinformation
Friends and contacts and mean well when they pass you bits and pieces of trivia via email. Unfortunately some of those information is more like misinformation. I don't know why some people got so much time in their hands to concoct such fallacies, incorrect understanding as well as myths and urban legends. And once it was let loose into the wild wide world of web, it will become viral and spreads.
The thing is, some of this bits of misinformation seemed plausible. Especially if you don't have the background academic knowledge or remembering a partial bit of information that you may have studied a long time ago but then you forget and when you receive the email, the explanation seem rather possible because your memory was a bit hazy on that subject matter. This brings to mind the show, "Are you better than a fifth grade" reality show. And yes, we don't have perfect memory, and things that we studied at one time is gone with the wind after many years of not referencing it in our brain.
Although for me, I still have good recollection of some of things that I have studied especially on those subject matters that I liked (but unfortunately for me, I don't know why I'm so poor at remembering names with people that I met! Must be the way my brain is differently wired). Anyway, we don't all have that good memory and we use whatever means to memorized information be they important or trivia.
So whenever I receive emails about some interesting discovery, trivia, and even warnings, it is best to do a little research online to find out just how accurate those information. Some people just have too much time in their hands, and will take real information and give it a little twist. So when you receive it, the information seems correct at first glance, but in reality it is already in error due to bad interpretation or overly simplistic view or misunderstood or could even be a joke or malicious intent of creating disinformation.
Thank goodness for sites like Snopes, BreakTheChain and various website and individuals trying to debunked bad information. Yes, internet communication (websites and emails) may be the best thing that has happened because it provide vast information for your research and reading at the touch of the button. And yet there are also sites or individuals whose grasp of their subject matter that may be less than well researched or poorly understood or just plainly made wrong intentionally to create disinformation.
So while you are surfing around or receiving emails with those pieces of trivia, do be weary of misinformation. Don't be lazy, but do a little bit of research and find out its accuracy before passing it along to your friends and family. Perhaps you might learn a thing or two about the subject matter that was circulating in the wild and avoid the disinformation and to inform the sender that the information they are sending should be more accurate so that they won't learn the wrong thing and pass bad information around.
Once a week exercise is better than nothing
I had a lively discussion with my colleague about exercise. Due to work and other commitment, I suppose a once a week exercise is better than nothing at all. Exercise is important as it improves our overall health fitness level and staves off illness. And if we do get caught with a malady, the boosted immunity will help you to recover much faster. -- ..
Although the simplest of all exercise is walking, I found that rather mild in comparison to running. Typically the basic recommended amount of exercise is three times a week for a continuous 30 minutes mild workout. Getting just once a week exercise is already so difficult to schedule, so I go for the once a week approach with a simple jog of between 15 minutes to 25 minutes.
It took me a long time to get that kind of physical fitness running level despite doing it once a week. The first time I did a run, it was terrible! Barely able to do a continuous run even for a 50 meters distance! It took a lot effort to try again and again using run-walk-run to slowly build it up!
Eventually I could run continuously for 10 minutes, than slowly push it up to 15 minutes, with a one minute of walking break before going for another 5 to 10 minutes run. Nowadays I manage to get myself to go for a full 20 minutes to 25 minutes non-stop run before quitting. I notice if you don't attempt to run too fast too hard, you can get longer mileage.
A good pair of shoes is important too. When I injured my plantar fascia tendon, it was excruciatingly painful for one whole year! I had to lay off running, and walking was a big pain at the sole of my feet. I come sympathize with a fellow church goer as she too recently got plantar fasciitis. This pain is very uncomfortable and healing process is really slow. Even with so many prayers for healing, it still took time for such a wish to be granted.
Though now my feet is no longer suffering too much from plantar fasciitis, I can say it is about 90% cured. I need to be careful. So a good foot insert is necessary to provide cushioning while at the same time provide stability. Mind you, those foot inserts are not cheap!
Anyway, it is good to be back running and keeping fit. Although I would like to do more than once a week of exercise, sometimes other condition such as the potential for plantar fasciitis to happen as well as time constraint and weather condition makes it a little difficult to do more.
So in this case, the once a week exercise is better than not doing any exercise at all!
Which #Android Phone Brand You Like?
Each Android phone maker is not the same. There is HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Sony, and various others as well as the made in Malaysia CSL.
I may not have tried them all, but having owned a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini pro, briefly with HTC Wildfire and now using HTC Cha Cha, played with my sis-in-law's Samsung Android mobile phone.
I find I liked HTC. The interface and layout is much better thought out. The battery is a little more lasting but still gets drained during heavy usage. And there is a lot more widgets available for the android desktop and the contacts has better integration not just with Google, but also with Facebook and Twitter. Perhaps in future it might integrate with LinkedIn now that they have IPOed.
Anyway I'm enjoying my new HTC Cha Cha so going to tango with it while I figure out what to do with my Sony Ericsson X10 mini pro.
---[update 11/10/11]---
Taking a break at Papa Rich the Curve
It was a weekend out for baby and family. Decided to take a coffee break at Papa Rich at The Curve KL shopping mall.
Baby was having a gala time roaming about Metrojaya despite the disapproval from mom. I tried to carry him but boys will be boys, especially inquisitive active boys! At 16 months old, he has a very curious mind. And yes he loves exploring!
As papa, will have to shadow him as he goes about pointing out interesting things and make sure he didn't mess up the displays and go where he was not suppose to go.
After an hours of following him, I needed a break! Mom and grandma came around after their little shopping. They needed to go back as the weekend cleaners would be at the house soon.
Anyway, I decided to take a break here at Papa Rich, Curve shopping mall. The house wasn't that far and I'll just walk back once I'm done.
Service here is a little poor as the waiters and waitresses seem to just ignore me. They are either tired or poorly trained. Anyway, i got my little cuppa. Once I'm done with this little blogging, I'm outa here!
Heiyah! As my little boy would exclaim! Ciao!
Baby was having a gala time roaming about Metrojaya despite the disapproval from mom. I tried to carry him but boys will be boys, especially inquisitive active boys! At 16 months old, he has a very curious mind. And yes he loves exploring!
As papa, will have to shadow him as he goes about pointing out interesting things and make sure he didn't mess up the displays and go where he was not suppose to go.
After an hours of following him, I needed a break! Mom and grandma came around after their little shopping. They needed to go back as the weekend cleaners would be at the house soon.
Anyway, I decided to take a break here at Papa Rich, Curve shopping mall. The house wasn't that far and I'll just walk back once I'm done.
Service here is a little poor as the waiters and waitresses seem to just ignore me. They are either tired or poorly trained. Anyway, i got my little cuppa. Once I'm done with this little blogging, I'm outa here!
Heiyah! As my little boy would exclaim! Ciao!
Streamyx down yet again!
It seems like every few months, my office streamyx broadband will be down. No idea why the service like. I will have to dial tm 100 help line to sort it out.
They will usually go through the process like finding out whether your modem kaput lah or you messed with the IP or something. But since I never touched any of those things it usually end up that they need to reset their servers to get it going again.
Sheesh, Malaysia internet access still got ways to go before they can be as good as other countries world class internet service providers.
Maxis Multi-SIM 1 Line
Meanwhile, I'm using the main SIM on my old Palm Centro nicknamed 'the Whiteberry'! Haha! The SIM card has no issue with this mobile phone.
It's been a long while since I typed on the teenie weenie keyboard so it is a little slow to tap out this blog!
Truly bad Friday traffic
It was work. No choice. I would rather not drive around Friday evening rush hour. From airport to hotel took me a whopping 2 hours of grinding, slow, traffic jam! Not to mention contributing to the CO2 emmission to global warming...
Decided to take my dinner first before heading back home. Hopefully the traffic would have ease off. Perhaps a bit of stroll through the shops to clear my head. A later drive might be better with the easing of rush hour traffic.
Oh, well. Life's like that.
Home sweet home
It's good to return home to good old Malaysia! Sure the trip was short, but I felt it was enough. My legs muscles are aching from all the walking!
Time to unpack, take a shower and go for sleep. Back to work tomorrow...
Time to unpack, take a shower and go for sleep. Back to work tomorrow...
Now at KLIA enjoying cup of coffee
The taxi journey was interesting. Never knew the taxi driver was a millionaire. He made hiis fortune as an engineer in oil and gas exploration. Due to an accident, he quit his job but found retirement too boring and wasted much money to fill in his time. So now to control himself, he decided to take on a taxi servicing.
In life you just don't know a person's background. An assuming person could well be a person very well off!
Well, that's life and for the rest of us, we just have to work our butts off to have any semblence of a lifestyle!
Co Trip to Shanghai
Well, we be going for company trip to Shanghai 4D/3N. Leaving behind darling wife and smiling baby. This morning was last chance to see baby as tonight I won't have time to see his happy face and hyper active mode. The flight would be rather tiring as it a very early morning flight way pass midnight and arriving early morning, bleary eyed and off and about sightseeing after clearing immigration.
The arrangement is very tight as boss only allowed for very short days as he would like to avoid disruption to work. It was rather difficult to find a travel agent willing to take such a small group and with such a short duration tour and travel. So the travel package was necessarily expensive in order to cover all expenses while making sufficient commission for the travel agent as well.
Anyway, the trip is more for the staff as a reward for making enough for the company. I've been to Shanghai perhaps some 10 years ago. This trip is not so intriguing for me, but I still have to tag along.
For that kind of pricing it was not worth it for me to bring along my dear darling wife along. Besides, my financial is rather tight at this moment, so I'm trying to conserve some money.
Anyway, a trip is still a trip, and many preparation has to be made.
Checked the Shanghai weather forecast and it looked bright and sunny. Hot weather just like here in Malaysia!
Extreme heavy rain!
.. It was awhile since the last downpour. So naturally the thunderstorm came with a vengence!
--
I managed to leave work timely but during the rush hour commute, the cats and dogs could not stay their hands any longer.
The end result was a super duper thunderstorm!
If I didn't get away sooner I probably got stuck in a super duper traffic jam. Now i'm back home and relaxing here.
Yeah!
--
I managed to leave work timely but during the rush hour commute, the cats and dogs could not stay their hands any longer.
The end result was a super duper thunderstorm!
If I didn't get away sooner I probably got stuck in a super duper traffic jam. Now i'm back home and relaxing here.
Yeah!
iPhone IOS 4 update is a pain
Updating iPhone IOS 4 to the latest version is really a big headache! Why can't Apple provide a separate file download? Why must it go through the iTunes 10 software for update? Mind you the file size is really huge at 666.6 MB (uh, the number of the beast too?) that's about the size of a CD-ROM. I know, I know, it takes me just as much trouble to download the 700 MB Ubuntu Linux ISO file, but I can use those helpful download software like uGet to continue my download if the connection breaks and also split my downloads to a couple of days if the server is really slow.
And this Apple update server is indeed really crawling at a snails pace! Could be Streamyx throttling my speed due to large download file. Or perhaps both, a slow server from Apple plus Streamyx broadband throttle, now that would really make your download day a super slow event. Wish they have a separate file for download. That would really make things it easier. I wonder why they don't do that? Perhaps they are afraid hackers would get at their code and reverse engineer it?
Whatever the reason, it makes for a poor user experience. That's why I don't always want to update my phone software, be it Apple's iPhone or Google's Android. Fortunately the Android update was far more faster, took me only about an hour plus for the update to be done.
However, my wife complained that the Apple iPhone was getting cranky and according to her fellow iPhone users in her office, that the mobile phone needs an update to make more stable. Her colleague left the phone overnight with the PC to download the update. Uh, with 666 MB and a slow server and broadband throttling, I guess that's the way to go about it.
Otherwise to keep your sanity the other option is to bring it over to the Telco (after all they bundled the phone in the mobile phone plan package) for the update since they have far more faster connection and perhaps even have the software at hand or they simply just have ultra fast broadband connection without being throttled.
Anyway, I'm going to give this self-updating of Apple iPhone IOS 4 a go before crying surrender if it fails. Anything for dear wife!
Seven signs that your child loves you
Just received this newsletter from Baby Centre. This really warms the heart and gives you a nice buzz for the day!
Some of the points is still not applicable to baby just yet (eg points 5, 6 and 7). I do noticed baby is doing some of the things describe in this brief article.
Cheers!
Seven signs that your child loves you
1. Your newborn stares into your eyes — he's actually working hard to memorise your face. He doesn't understand anything else about the world, but he knows you're important.
2. Your baby thinks about you even when you're not around. Between eight and 12 months old, he'll start to scrunch his face and look around when you leave the room — and he'll smile when you return.
3. Your toddler throws wicked tantrums. Nope, those screaming fits don't mean he's stopped loving you. He couldn't show he was so hurt and angry if he didn't trust you so deeply.
4. Your toddler runs to you for comfort when he falls down or feels sad. Children this age may not truly understand the meaning of "I love you," but their actions speak louder than words.
5. Your preschooler gives you a flower picked from the garden, a finger-painted heart, a sparkly stone or another gift.
6. Your preschooler wants your approval. He'll start to be more cooperative around the house and he'll look for chances to impress. "Look at me!" will become a catchphrase.
7. Your school-age child trusts you with secrets, such as his first crush or his most embarrassing moment. You're his confidante, even if he shies away from your hugs in public.
Source: babycentre•co•uk (June 2010)
Mad rush, then car accident
In a fit of insanity, I decided to do a foolhadry overtaking cutting too close with another car.
It wasn't anything serious. Just a scratch. Perhaps God is looking out for me. It could have been pretty bad.
Anyway, now I will have to take him to a car workshop for minor spray paint job.
Them the breaks when you don't have flexi working hours and a boss who enforce every little rule to the letter!
Sigh!
Baby 15 months old and walking!
Baby is 15 months and he just started to walk unassisted! This is a milestone for baby. For the past couple months, he was just crawling all over the place with some minor walks by bracing himself on furnitures.
It took a lot of prompting to get him to try walking more. The motivation came when I took him to the shopping mall and decideed to just hold one hand and let him walk assisted.
He would look at others walking by and he would notice other children who would walk. Going home later, he would try to walk more assisted. And when he was ready, he walked without support! And in some instance still managed to walk unassisted while holding on to some bulky containers!
He still need more encouragement so will let him walk more while holding his hand.
He is still a little wobbly and I noticed his walk was rather bow legged. A quick check online from baby centre, and it was explained that it was normal. Baby will grow out of it when his muscle strengthens. So now just need to encourage him to walk more!
It took a lot of prompting to get him to try walking more. The motivation came when I took him to the shopping mall and decideed to just hold one hand and let him walk assisted.
He would look at others walking by and he would notice other children who would walk. Going home later, he would try to walk more assisted. And when he was ready, he walked without support! And in some instance still managed to walk unassisted while holding on to some bulky containers!
He still need more encouragement so will let him walk more while holding his hand.
He is still a little wobbly and I noticed his walk was rather bow legged. A quick check online from baby centre, and it was explained that it was normal. Baby will grow out of it when his muscle strengthens. So now just need to encourage him to walk more!
Digital Pen Livescribe 2GB Echo now at MYR399
Prices are coming down, the digital pen Livescribe 2GB Echo model has drop to MYR399. Ouch! If I have known I would have waited instead. I bought my 2GB Pulse model some 3 months back.
So what's the difference?
The new Echo model has new features, it is more ergonomic and rubber grip. That should help ease my aching hand from prolong usage.
And it uses a cable rather than a dongle, so you can use it like a mosue while connected to your PC.
And they not round like a cylinder so it won't roll off your table.
These are little extras. Initially they were marketing it for MYR699. That price too steep lah. Now at MYR399 then more reasonable. If between Pulse vs Echo at same price, then Echo is the better choice.
Well, too late now. Will just have to make do with my Livescribe 2GB Pulse digital pen instead of the improve 2GB Echo version
My review of Livescribe 2GB Pulse model
Big'Ant Malaysia / K-One Technology, distributor of LiveScribe has closed shop
So what's the difference?
The new Echo model has new features, it is more ergonomic and rubber grip. That should help ease my aching hand from prolong usage.
And it uses a cable rather than a dongle, so you can use it like a mosue while connected to your PC.
And they not round like a cylinder so it won't roll off your table.
These are little extras. Initially they were marketing it for MYR699. That price too steep lah. Now at MYR399 then more reasonable. If between Pulse vs Echo at same price, then Echo is the better choice.
Well, too late now. Will just have to make do with my Livescribe 2GB Pulse digital pen instead of the improve 2GB Echo version
My review of Livescribe 2GB Pulse model
Big'Ant Malaysia / K-One Technology, distributor of LiveScribe has closed shop
The trouble with maids
Usually this kind of things shouldn’t happen, but this maid that we got was particular troublesome.
Having a maid is suppose to help you out in the house. Sometimes you get good maid and they are really a big help. And sometimes you get one that is too smart for her own good. No doubt she was able to do many of things instructed even using complicated household equipment like that expensive vacuum cleaner that my wife bought and even do fruit juicing.
However she has some very notorious bad habits. She don’t quite like to be a maid and yet she is now stuck in Malaysia due to her contract. Unfortunately she was not able to tough out the 2 years contract necessary to return back to Cambodia.
Having a maid is suppose to help you out in the house. Sometimes you get good maid and they are really a big help. And sometimes you get one that is too smart for her own good. No doubt she was able to do many of things instructed even using complicated household equipment like that expensive vacuum cleaner that my wife bought and even do fruit juicing.
However she has some very notorious bad habits. She don’t quite like to be a maid and yet she is now stuck in Malaysia due to her contract. Unfortunately she was not able to tough out the 2 years contract necessary to return back to Cambodia.
Rothman circle traffic lights is working
So finally the traffic lights at the rothman circle in sek 19 PJ is working. No more crazy circle jams I hope. Let's see how's their timing, better or worse?
Traffic here is quite heavy to be regulated by traffic light junction.
----
Next day, the traffic lights were switched off. I think they were testing it out. From the looks of it, the timing sequence was rather poor. They will have to come up with a better timing sequence if they want to avoid a bad traffic congestion at the former Rothman Circle in Section 19, PJ.
Traffic here is quite heavy to be regulated by traffic light junction.
----
Next day, the traffic lights were switched off. I think they were testing it out. From the looks of it, the timing sequence was rather poor. They will have to come up with a better timing sequence if they want to avoid a bad traffic congestion at the former Rothman Circle in Section 19, PJ.
Google Toolbar for Firefox 5 is no more
Oh dear! Just found out that Google Toolbar will no longer support for Firefox 5 and beyond. There were some handy tools in it that I really liked such as the Google Search Box, Page Rank, Bookmarks and the New Tab Page and to a lesser extent the Sidewiki. Looks like I will have to migrate to other alternatives. Although I can force compatibility on Firefox 5 (most features worked except New Tab Page) eventually some components will not work due to changes in the APIs structure.
Yeah, sure I was really late in finding out about the discontinuation as I was rather busy lately. The announcement was made sometime at the end of July 2011:
Yeah, sure I was really late in finding out about the discontinuation as I was rather busy lately. The announcement was made sometime at the end of July 2011:
Rank and Pillage - giving this monetizing a try
I have been online for many years now and not making very big headway, so giving this Rank and Pillage program a try. I know there are many internet marketers selling this and that about making money online, and most of the time they are just plain rubbish. I even sat in one of those internet marketing summit seminar and what I get out from it is mostly hype and no substance. They just want to sell you their program and make money out from you.
So how I end up signing up with this Rank and Pillage program? Well the sales copy look sincere enough, and one of the backers own the free website hosting called Blinkweb which I gave it a try. So it seems there is some possibility of workability in their system. Plus I didn't have to pay all upfront first for their program, just USD5 then a week later if I feel their program is ok, can pay the balance of USD72.
And so far running through the PDF file and some of their videos (the videos a bit difficult to run through with the crappy streamyx broadband, but still manage to watch some of it with all the stop and go... sigh!), the ideas seemed sound enough.
So how I end up signing up with this Rank and Pillage program? Well the sales copy look sincere enough, and one of the backers own the free website hosting called Blinkweb which I gave it a try. So it seems there is some possibility of workability in their system. Plus I didn't have to pay all upfront first for their program, just USD5 then a week later if I feel their program is ok, can pay the balance of USD72.
And so far running through the PDF file and some of their videos (the videos a bit difficult to run through with the crappy streamyx broadband, but still manage to watch some of it with all the stop and go... sigh!), the ideas seemed sound enough.
Fever gone, left with dry cough
What a week! High fever and shivering for almost a week! Though now it has subsided, I think I'm left with a low grade fever coz I will just continuously sweat. The sweating is less now, the sore throat from the infection gave me stucked phlegm resulting with a irritating dry cough.
This kind of phlegm / dry cough is best remedied using Chinese medicine. So on the weekend, the missus was stocking up on Chinese herbs and stuffs, I ended up consulting a sinseh who prescribed some strange concoction. From the looks of it, my phlegm is somewhat loser and I can cough easier. The diagnosis appears that I may still have low grade fever as I have suspected, but what I couldn't catch was the night fever vs day fever explanation. Anyway as long as that funny tasting herbal medicine does its trick I wouldn't care so much.
Now just have to let the medicine work its way round for the cure to happen.
This kind of phlegm / dry cough is best remedied using Chinese medicine. So on the weekend, the missus was stocking up on Chinese herbs and stuffs, I ended up consulting a sinseh who prescribed some strange concoction. From the looks of it, my phlegm is somewhat loser and I can cough easier. The diagnosis appears that I may still have low grade fever as I have suspected, but what I couldn't catch was the night fever vs day fever explanation. Anyway as long as that funny tasting herbal medicine does its trick I wouldn't care so much.
Now just have to let the medicine work its way round for the cure to happen.
High fever and shivering, now sore throat and bad cough
Getting high fever is no fun. Just on of those days. This high fever was rather nasty in that it causes bad headache, and somehow it affects the nerves as I could feel occassional pain in certain parts of my body. On top of that, the fever will subside after excessive sweating and then you will start to shiver and the fever will come back going through the cycle again.
Body will feel weak and not much appetite, still I had to eat to keep up my strength!
The fever really addles the brain and the best way to occupy my time was vege out on the couch watching movies and serials! And when I'm too far drain, it is to the bed then.
The cycle of high fever/shivering was a bit worrisome, so on the fifth day as per doctor suggestion to do blood test to find out if it was dengue. Fortunately it wasn't dengue when the result came out.
Still it was some kind of viral infection with an adverse symptom. Only way was to control the sysmptoms till it runs its course.
Now after clearing the fever, my body was still sweating even though no fever. Most likely there are ingering viruses that needed to be cleared out. Plus there is secondary issue of sore throat and the most irritating, stucked phlegm causing unproductive cough. For that, I decided to try Chinese medicine as they or more effective against this stubborn phlegm. In order for me to cough well I had to press my windpipe to one side while I cough hard to dislodge the phlegm! This heavy coughing left me pretty drain each time I have to do it.
Weekend coming soon, so I hope I will be rid of this ailment once and for all after further rest.
Body will feel weak and not much appetite, still I had to eat to keep up my strength!
The fever really addles the brain and the best way to occupy my time was vege out on the couch watching movies and serials! And when I'm too far drain, it is to the bed then.
The cycle of high fever/shivering was a bit worrisome, so on the fifth day as per doctor suggestion to do blood test to find out if it was dengue. Fortunately it wasn't dengue when the result came out.
Still it was some kind of viral infection with an adverse symptom. Only way was to control the sysmptoms till it runs its course.
Now after clearing the fever, my body was still sweating even though no fever. Most likely there are ingering viruses that needed to be cleared out. Plus there is secondary issue of sore throat and the most irritating, stucked phlegm causing unproductive cough. For that, I decided to try Chinese medicine as they or more effective against this stubborn phlegm. In order for me to cough well I had to press my windpipe to one side while I cough hard to dislodge the phlegm! This heavy coughing left me pretty drain each time I have to do it.
Weekend coming soon, so I hope I will be rid of this ailment once and for all after further rest.
Baby sick and down with fever
Baby sick and down with fever. Sounds like he got sore throat too when his voice was rather raspy. I also caught him making a slight cough. I guess it just one of those days when baby gets sick. The weather was pretty hot. My mom-in-law was having difficulty giving him water, well you know children nowadays can be difficult especially when they are having too much fun they tend to forget about eating and drinking till they are feeling very hungry!
Anyway he was down with fever and I could see then he has lost his strength and energy. On top of that, he didn't have much appetite either which will weaken him further. Probably the sore throat will make it difficult to even gulp down his milk.
Tried to sweat out the fever but that made him feel very uncomfortable. Only thing left was the liquid paracetamol medicine which did help to bring down the fever rather quickly.
Children really hate taking medicine and you will need to be rather quick on your hands to shove the medicine into baby's mouth. They know it is medicine time when they see you pour that horrible tasting pinkish liquid. And this baby of mine will shut his mouth real tight and you need to find a way to get his mouth open and when it is open, you have to be quick about it!
Anyway, my wife has got a very lengthy business presentation tomorrow. Since I have no appointment set, I guest I will be the designated parent to bring sick ol' baby to see the pediatrician.
Anyway he was down with fever and I could see then he has lost his strength and energy. On top of that, he didn't have much appetite either which will weaken him further. Probably the sore throat will make it difficult to even gulp down his milk.
Tried to sweat out the fever but that made him feel very uncomfortable. Only thing left was the liquid paracetamol medicine which did help to bring down the fever rather quickly.
Children really hate taking medicine and you will need to be rather quick on your hands to shove the medicine into baby's mouth. They know it is medicine time when they see you pour that horrible tasting pinkish liquid. And this baby of mine will shut his mouth real tight and you need to find a way to get his mouth open and when it is open, you have to be quick about it!
Anyway, my wife has got a very lengthy business presentation tomorrow. Since I have no appointment set, I guest I will be the designated parent to bring sick ol' baby to see the pediatrician.
Can't seem to install statusnet
Ever since Bluehost wasn't so friendly to my statusnet script and wordpress bad plugins causing server spike in their hosting server, I shifted my personal blog and other web projects to another web hosting company. I still wanted to experiment with Statusnet but now try as I might, I couldn't get it to install. I wonder what is wrong. I even downloaded an older version of Statusnet, but it was no go. All I got was 500 internal server error.
Granted the hosting was very cheap. I think Anjung Cafe Hosting is the cheapest paid hosting that I have ever come across. Of course the cheapest would be free hosting but that is a different class altogether. Nobody can provide free all the time, they need an income to maintain their hardware and provide for themselves too. Funding must come from somewhere. Even bloggers also need funds, it takes time and effort to research and write. Some small measure of returns via advertisement to fund for domain name and web hosting and a little extra for a treat now and then isn't asking too much, no?
Anyway, I wanted to experiment with Statusnet but it just wouldn't install. Mayhaps will have to try it on another web hosting company and see if I get the same error or whether it would be smooth sailing. Could be the way the Apache / Linux server is configured. Since I'm just renting the hosting space at such low cost, cannot expect too much from it lah! (update: yep, I could install it on other web hosting, so definately Anjung Cafe Hosting is missing some plugins, so no Statusnet installation here for now.)
Will have to find time to blog about the various Malaysian web hosting that I research on while looking for an alternate to Bluehost and looking for hosting space closer to home. Especially for those who want lower cost hosting at good value, no need to go so expensive like Exabytes with the unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. Although my personal blog has a lot of website traffic it is still within range of
the cheaper web hosting.
For now, I think I better not waste too much time trying to get my experimental Statusnet installation to work. I'm rather behind in my more serious web posts.
Granted the hosting was very cheap. I think Anjung Cafe Hosting is the cheapest paid hosting that I have ever come across. Of course the cheapest would be free hosting but that is a different class altogether. Nobody can provide free all the time, they need an income to maintain their hardware and provide for themselves too. Funding must come from somewhere. Even bloggers also need funds, it takes time and effort to research and write. Some small measure of returns via advertisement to fund for domain name and web hosting and a little extra for a treat now and then isn't asking too much, no?
Anyway, I wanted to experiment with Statusnet but it just wouldn't install. Mayhaps will have to try it on another web hosting company and see if I get the same error or whether it would be smooth sailing. Could be the way the Apache / Linux server is configured. Since I'm just renting the hosting space at such low cost, cannot expect too much from it lah! (update: yep, I could install it on other web hosting, so definately Anjung Cafe Hosting is missing some plugins, so no Statusnet installation here for now.)
Will have to find time to blog about the various Malaysian web hosting that I research on while looking for an alternate to Bluehost and looking for hosting space closer to home. Especially for those who want lower cost hosting at good value, no need to go so expensive like Exabytes with the unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth. Although my personal blog has a lot of website traffic it is still within range of
the cheaper web hosting.
For now, I think I better not waste too much time trying to get my experimental Statusnet installation to work. I'm rather behind in my more serious web posts.
Sometimes work feels just like in Dilbert comics
Sometimes work life can feel like the Dilbert Comics. Like when the top management wants you to grow the business in a certain x percentage. Ask you to take initiative to build new products but when you did find something they disallowed it citing that it is not company policy (whose? Boss or company?) or profit too small (have many small ones and it will grow!) or job too risky (no risk, no profit, my dear!).
Feel Good to Finish but Weather went from Good to Wash Out!
The cloudy and breezy weather was great for the run but eventually the rain came down after I have completed it. The rain was dampener for the carnival. Now holding out under a canopy waiting for the rain to clear before collecting the goodies bag and ciao.
One of my uncles was nowhere to be seen will have to look for him after the rain stops.
Meanwhile just keeping my cool under the canopy for this NTV7 Feel Good Run. Yeah!
Bypassing DNS Block of TM Streamyx
Recently I noticed there was lag whenever I tried to access internet. I guess the recent government directive to Streamyx and other ISP providers in Malaysia in an attempt to use DNS block has resulted in a slower internet access. Such DNS blocking is futile as it was very easy to bypass DNS block.
The Malaysian government went against their promise (perhaps even illegal since it went against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantee) of giving its citizen unrestricted access to the internet and instructed Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block off certain sites. So much for freedom of information. The reasoning behind it was to fight against piracy and against illegal file sharing sites. That’s the overt reasoning, I should think there is also a covert conspiracy to also shut off opposition website as well too since they did get a hammering during the 2008 general election as the opposition used the internet media to voice out their opinion thus making the current coalition losing so many Parliament seats that they are now so desperate to get back their 2/3 majority.
The Malaysian government went against their promise (perhaps even illegal since it went against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantee) of giving its citizen unrestricted access to the internet and instructed Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block off certain sites. So much for freedom of information. The reasoning behind it was to fight against piracy and against illegal file sharing sites. That’s the overt reasoning, I should think there is also a covert conspiracy to also shut off opposition website as well too since they did get a hammering during the 2008 general election as the opposition used the internet media to voice out their opinion thus making the current coalition losing so many Parliament seats that they are now so desperate to get back their 2/3 majority.
Firefox 5 breaks Google Toolbar
The latest Firefox 5 update inadvertently broke the Google Toolbar. Frankly the version 5 came too fast in the wake of Firefox 4 which broke the Delicious bookmarking plugin.
Since I have several PC's, looks like i'm not going to update the rest of my PC's to Firefox 5 until Google comes up with an updated plugin.
--- [update 27/6/2011]
Found this thread in Mozilla support. By using this compatibility reporter extension, you could make Google Toolbar to work with Firefox 5. I gave it a try and it works! It also made my Trend Micro toolbar working in Firefox 5 too! Nice fix!
And finally I gave the Delicious toolbar a go too, and voila! It works! No need to wait for update from Delicious. Anyway, with the breaking of Delicious I found a better bookmarking service from Xmarks.com. Since I still got many bookmarks in Delicious, I guess I will be keeping both service for now.
The Google Toolbar 7.1.20110512W version works in Firefox 5.0 by using the Compatibility Reporter extension.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/
Since I have several PC's, looks like i'm not going to update the rest of my PC's to Firefox 5 until Google comes up with an updated plugin.
--- [update 27/6/2011]
Found this thread in Mozilla support. By using this compatibility reporter extension, you could make Google Toolbar to work with Firefox 5. I gave it a try and it works! It also made my Trend Micro toolbar working in Firefox 5 too! Nice fix!
And finally I gave the Delicious toolbar a go too, and voila! It works! No need to wait for update from Delicious. Anyway, with the breaking of Delicious I found a better bookmarking service from Xmarks.com. Since I still got many bookmarks in Delicious, I guess I will be keeping both service for now.
The Google Toolbar 7.1.20110512W version works in Firefox 5.0 by using the Compatibility Reporter extension.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/
Reinstalling my Windows
I guess my office PC Windows was getting way to cranky and it was time to blast it to smithereens and reinstall Windows again. It had a good run of 3 years but now it is like a wheel that is no longer round giving a very rough ride whenever I was using it.
The reinstallation was a tedious process. Although reinstalling windows was quick taking only a couple of hours. Putting back the necessary software like Microsoft Office, the various browsers, anti-virus, and various tweaking, configuration, updating… while still doing sales work at the same time is really complicated!
This time round I figure I won't be using the POP3 for my email and use the alternate IMAP instead so that wherever I may be whether at home, at work or on the road I will see the same email logging in either with Outlook, Windows Live Mail, Linux Evolution, Android phone or just logging in via Webmail.
However my current office web hosting company do not have IMAP but I did set up an alternate email storage in Google App using a sub domain. So I will try this for awhile. The only problem with this method is that all my outgoing email will have the "…send on behalf of…" which makes the email headers looked kinda ugly. Tried several options but still ended up with the ugly headers. Well no choice, google wanted to make sure spammers won't spoof their email address when using the gmail email system. Only way to avoid it is to send via the original account, but I won't be able to keep the outgoing email in the Google App account. Will just have to see which way to go about it.
Meanwhile it has taken about two days of installing back the necessary software. There may be some other less often used software that were not installed. Well if I need to use them I will install them, so in the meanwhile, my Windows reinstallation is breezier and faster when all the gunk has been cleared out from the PC with a clean install. So no more blue screen of death and warning messages of not shutting down my PC properly. Yes!
Bluehost giving me the blues, looking for new web hosting
Eversince Bluehost gave me the heartbreak of telling me if my script cause a spike to their CPU for the third time, I will have to find a new web hosting company. I think that is rather stern and unfair, rather than chasing the customer away, they should try to help resolve what was wrong with my script installation. After looking around online, I found many negative reviews about Bluehost. And some place the power failure incident as a major negative point against Bluehost. Believe me, when all my web sites went down that day, I too had to wait it out for their servers to reboot. And they talked about world class backup generators and they weren't working that day with the excuse the power companies didn't allow them to use it.
Another down point is that Bluehost is one of the few web hosting companies that throttle your bandwidth, that means if a certain increase load to their servers due to higher website traffic, it would mean your web site will start to slow. Searching online, I found a review where a user who was a teacher, complained that her Wordpress website slowed to a crawl when many of her students were accessing her web site simultaneously. And I bet that the number isn't very high considering that a classroom full of student accessing her website requires throttling?
Another down point is that Bluehost is one of the few web hosting companies that throttle your bandwidth, that means if a certain increase load to their servers due to higher website traffic, it would mean your web site will start to slow. Searching online, I found a review where a user who was a teacher, complained that her Wordpress website slowed to a crawl when many of her students were accessing her web site simultaneously. And I bet that the number isn't very high considering that a classroom full of student accessing her website requires throttling?
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