Monday, 31 March 2008
“Most customers find them very cute and usually added a few sets to go with other paper clothing and items such as dresses, bags and shoes for their female family members to use in the other world.”
Saturday, 29 March 2008
Newly appointed opposition Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim mentioned that the state government had worked out a formula that will benefit the people, the Selangor state and also the environment (which I guess in this case is the water wastage that might happen because of the free water).
Source: Star Online Nation "Free water from June 1"
Friday, 28 March 2008
Did the above failed thing with Inkscape in Ubuntu Linux. Guess that is the most productive thing for today. :(
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
I stopped at the part where I could not boot from my Ubuntu thumbdrive nor Windows (please do not be confused with the incident from my most recent post). This time, I took out the internal hard disk and booted from the Ubuntu Live CD. Did the installation again but partitioned the 8GB thumbdrive - allocating 5GB for the file system, 500MB for swap (which I later removed, but that is another story that perhaps will be forgotten) and the remaining for normal storage (I had this wishful thought that perhaps I can use the remaining space as just a normal plug and play thumbdrive for Windows but then Windows do not support partitioned thumbdrives - found this out much later).
After another long session, I got to boot into Ubuntu with the thumbdrive again and waited and waited for some of my friends to come into MSN Messenger (using Pidgin in Ubuntu to access my MSN account) and also at the same time contemplating if I should just drive back to my office to get the Windows CD to run the Recovery Console.
Some more waiting later, WoonCC (linking to his flickr account because he seldom blogs :P) came into MSN and he agreed to meet and bring his Windows CD. And so we met, booted from the CD, went into Recovery Console and at the prompt, typed "fixmbr" and I can boot into Windows again! :D
PANIC! SHOCK! HORROR! But thankfully, I have Ubuntu Linux in my thumbdrive. Phew! So logged into Gmail and did the rest.
Meanwhile, I was surfing the net to try to find the solution to my Windows problem. When I tried to boot, all I got was a blank screen with the text "Missing ntldr. Press ctrl + alt + del to reboot." Gosh! I did that so many times. Why not at least tell me to use a recovery disk or something?
Initially I Googled the error but decided I should look for it in Microsoft's website. I was taken to the solution page... but my friend Andrewk who happened to just logged into MSN Messenger at that time pointed out that that solution was for Windows 2000... *shy* So added the word "XP" into the search string and came to the right knowledge database. From there, Andrewk provided me with the ntldr and ntdetect.com files and I can boot into Windows XP again.
However, I rebooted back into Ubuntu here to blog this story to show my support for this open source free operating system. WAY TO GO!
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Monday, 24 March 2008
From Star Online "Stylo KL Fashion awards a toast to finesse"
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Over the past 30 years, the Earth has warmed by 0.6°C or 1.08°F. Over the past 100 years, it has warmed by 0.8°C or 1.44°F.
Current warmth seems to be occurring nearly everywhere at the same time and is largest at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Over the last 50 years, the largest annual and seasonal warmings have occurred in Alaska, Siberia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Most ocean areas have warmed. Because these areas are remote and far away from major cities, it is clear to climatologists that the warming is not due to the influence of pollution from urban areas.
Therefore, took out the internal hard disk, ran the Ubuntu Live CD and installed the whole thing on the thumbdrive. That took about 30 to 45 minutes. Re-inserted the internal hard disk and got the thumbdrive to boot. I was thrilled but the performance from booting with a thumbdrive is sluggish. Occasionally, the application will halt momentarily, presumably to load stuff from the thumbdrive. :(
After some fooling around I discovered that there are security updates just like in Windows. I had to download and install 200+ of them. GASP! That took several hours. Besides that, with the help of WoonCC, i discovered some fun stuff, particularly the Cube desktop. I could switch between workspaces by rotating the cube (screenshot below)! Oh forgot to mention about the workspaces... basically you can have as many desktops as your machine can take and in Linux these are called workspaces... I think... :P
After awhile, I switched back to Windows XP and I plugged the thumbdrive in. Windows said it can't open it and suggested that I format it... since the whole Ubuntu installation only took about 4GB, so I thought maybe I should partition out 2GB for data usage in both Windows and Ubuntu. So I went about to reinstall Ubuntu... at this point, I must say i am a *NOOB*! This time I did the installation WITHOUT taking out the internal hard disk and at the end of all it, I can't boot from the thumbdrive and I ALSO can't boot from the hard disk!
And I noticed that I have typed too much for this post so I shall stop for now.
To be continued...
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Caution! Drinking too much will have the opposite effect - higher risk of heart disease and in women, breast cancer. So, drink wisely!
Read more at Forbes.com.
Prime Minister:Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Deputy Prime Minister: Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak
Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department:
Minister: Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok
Minister: Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Minister: (Sen) Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim
Minister: (Sen) Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz
Minister: Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz
Deputy Ministers Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department:
Deputy Minister: Datuk Johari Baharum
Deputy Minister: (Sen) Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim
Deputy Minister: S.K. Devamany
Deputy Minister: Datuk Hasan Malek
Ministry of Agriculture & Agro-Based Industry
Minister: Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
Deputy: Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim
Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts & Heritage
Minister: Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal
Deputy: Teng Boon Soon
Ministry of Defence
Minister: Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Abdul Razak
Deputy: Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop
Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs
Minister: Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad
Deputy: Jelaing Mersat
Ministry of Education
Minister: Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein
Deputy: Datuk Wee Ka Siong
Deputy: Datuk Razali Ismail
Ministry of Energy, Water & Communications
Minister: Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor
Deputy: Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum
Ministry of Entrepreneur & Co-operative Development
Minister: Datuk Noh Omar
Deputy: Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah
Ministry of Federal Territories
Minister: Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique
Deputy: Datuk M. Saravanan
Ministry of Finance
Minister: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Minister: Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop
Deputy: Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah
Deputy: Datuk Kong Cho Ha
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister: Datuk Seri Rais Yatim
Deputy: Datuk Seri Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar
Ministry of Health
Minister: Datuk Liow Tiong Lai
Deputy: Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad
Ministry of Higher Education
Minister: Datuk Khaled Nordin
Deputy: Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung
Deputy: Datuk Idris Haron
Ministry Housing & Local Government
Minister: Datuk Ong Ka Chuan
Deputy: Datuk Robert Lau
Deputy: Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin
Ministry of Human Resources
Minister: Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam
Deputy: Datuk Noraini Ahmad
Ministry of Information
Minister: Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Deputy: Datuk Tan Lian Hoe
Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs
Minister: Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Syed Jaafar Albar
Deputy: Datuk Chor Chee Heung
Deputy: (Sen) Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh
Ministry of International Trade & Industry
Minister: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputy: Datuk Liew Vui Keong
Deputy: Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan
Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment
Minister: Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas
Deputy: Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh
Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities
Minister: Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
Deputy: (Sen) A. Kohilan Pillay
Ministry of Rural & Regional Development
Minister: Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib
Deputy: Tan Sri Joseph Kurup
Deputy: Joseph Entulu Belaun
Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovations
Minister: Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
Deputy: Datuk Fadillah Yusof
Ministry of Tourism
Minister: Datuk Azalina Othman Said
Deputy: Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib
Ministry of Transport
Minister: Datuk Ong Tee Keat
Deputy: Datuk Anifah Aman
Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development
Minister: Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen
Deputy: Senator Noriah Kasnon
Ministry of Works
Minister: Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed
Deputy: Datuk Yong Khoon Seng
Ministry of Youth & Sports
Minister: Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Deputy: Wee Jeck Seng
Monday, 17 March 2008
Do you believe in Nessie? Maybe the movie The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep will revive the world's attention.
U.S. crude was trading at $106.87 by 9:59 a.m. EDT, down $3.34 from the previous close. Earlier on Monday, it hit a new record of $111.80 and then fell to a session low of $105.11.Previous oil insanity:
A corporate manager or an executive who, like the fabled Irish elf, is a mischievous and elusive creature said to possess buried treasures of money and gold.
According to Irish folklore, the location of hidden treasure is revealed only when the leprechaun is caught. In the case of a leprechaun leader, the "buried treasure" is not usually buried, but rather in a protected offshore account!
Examples of leprechaun leaders are the executives of Enron, who stowed away millions of dollars until they were finally caught.
Also spelled "Lepre-con Leader".
Sunday, 16 March 2008
From Saturday's Star Online:
Tremors in Bukit Tinggi
PETALING JAYA: A mild earthquake measuring 2.0 and 3.2 on the Richter scale struck Bukit Tinggi in Pahang at 7.16am, 7.35am and 8.50am Saturday.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department said it caused weak tremors in Bukit Tinggi and surrounding areas. The department assured that there was no cause for concern as the tremors were mild.
Saturday, 15 March 2008
Johor Baru Fire and Rescue Department commanding officer C. Kesavan said that the firemen were only trained to catch crocodiles on land, not in water.
After two hours of trying, the firemen gave up and left the scene.
I hope this is not the end of the story! I had been to Danga Bay once and it is a tourist attraction-cum-night spot... can't be safe with a roaming crocodile!!!
Friday, 14 March 2008
Then along came Moko, who approached the whales and appeared to lead them as they swam 200 yards (180 meters) along the beach and through a channel out to the open sea.Source: National Geographic News "Dolphin Saves Stuck Whales, Guides Them Back to Sea"
Thursday, 13 March 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: An 11-year-old boy, Muhamad Asmawi Jalaludin, who went to play with his friends at the Kampung Kerinchi flats located about 200m from his house on March 9, has gone missing.
Brickfields acting OCPD Supt Azri Abdul Rahman said Muhamad Asmawi usually went to his friends' flats nearby to play videogames.
The boy had gone to the nearby flats at around 5pm on March 9. When questioned by the police, his friends said that the SRK La Salle pupil had gone home at 6.30pm that day.
When the boy left the house, he was wearing a pink T-shirt and grey shorts.
"The boy was last seen at the Mid-Valley Megamall by a friend. We are scrutinising the CCTVs in the shopping complex to find out if he was there," Supt Azri said on Thursday.
He added that Muhammad Asmawi's mother, Rozita Abu Hassan, 50, had received an SMS demanding ransom of a sum of money.
Police have identified the sender of the SMS but have yet to track the person down.
Rozita, when met at her home in Kampung Kerinchi here on Thursday, said she waited for her youngest son to return until evening and decided to search for him in the area but to no avail.
"Usually he goes cycling and plays football in the evenings and would be back by 5pm," said the mother of seven.
Source: Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
Previous whole load of oil price increases this year:
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
This year's oil watch:
This year's oil watch:
Sunday, 9 March 2008
2008 General Elections State Seat Results
The people of Malaysia have voiced their dissatisfaction over the BN's many exposed corruption and scandals with little to no actions, racial issues, the party's treatment with the recent protests. Most of all, Malaysians now WANT A CHANGE!
But let's not be too happy first. We will still have to wait and see how the opposition will prove themselves or are they just as hypocritical as BN themselves. I hope the opposition will not disappoint the people that have given them this chance and will bring the country out of its current decaying trend.
Cheers to a brand new hope!
Saturday, 8 March 2008
Friday, 7 March 2008
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
Source: Star Online "Products found with poisonous content"
Previous Poison Products posted here.
Monday, 3 March 2008
Crude for April delivery rallied $2.11 to a near record of $103.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early morning trading. The nominal level has already passed inflation-adjusted historical highs.This year's INSANE oil price watch:
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Source: The Glam Guide "Spring 2008 Most Wanted? Antonio Berardi Heelless Shoes"
What really attracted my attention was, despite being a fully automated digital camera, it features a mode that will use the smallest available aperture. Definitely not as flexible as those with full manual or an aperture priority mode, but having this mode would allow maximum depth-of-field and would give my favourite "star" effects especially when shooting at night.
Check out the camera's official site here.
Previous post on a digital camera with an even wider lens:
Wide Wide World of Lumix