Ugly Chickens

Direct link to Adobe Reader X, Adobe Reader 10 (Acrobat Reader)

2011-10-23T11:04:00.004+08:00

Reader Phil Ng alerted me about the latest direct link to Adobe Reader.One of the major annoyances about Adobe Reader, which I have written about previously, is that Adobe insists that it can only be downloaded from its own servers.The installer stub will force you to download unwanted toolbars and programs. Plus, it also installs Adobe Download Manager (ADM), which I do not want or need.Here's

A final request is not the same as a death wish

2011-07-29T13:00:00.002+08:00

I was quite appalled to read this headline for a story about an ex-PM of Vietnam:A Malaysian death wish for ex-PMThis story is among the "Most Viewed" online and has presumably made it to print. You only have to read the lede to realise that what the writer meant was "final request", "last request", or "last wish". None of these death wishes! Here's the dictionary definition of death wish, which

LCD TV prices expected to fall

2010-11-01T23:48:00.004+08:00

The AP reports that LCD TV prices are expected to fall due to reduced demand.AP: LCD TV companies see falling prices as demand downSEATTLE (AP) — Companies that make huge flat-screen televisions and their LCD panel components are alerting investors that demand is dropping in the U.S. and other developed markets.If you're planning to buy one of these, wait a while more. I'd suggest holding out for

Teh tarik, soft drink prices should NOT go up

2010-07-28T22:56:00.002+08:00

Practically all servings of popular drinks like teh tarik and kopi/teh ais are prepared using condensed milk, which already contains a lot of sugar. So there is no justification for any rise in prices for these drinks even with the recent 5 sen/kg increase in retail sugar prices.There is no excuse for condensed milk factories to raise prices either; they should only be using bulk sugar supplies

It's not a battle royale unless...

2009-10-05T15:33:00.012+08:00

One source of annoyance for editor-types is when writers repeatedly use "battle royale" when they mean to write "battle royal".For example, check out the headlines for these two stories which cover the tiff between the Negeri Sembilan and Johor royal families.To clarify:Battle Royale is the title of a 2000 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, which is based on the novel of the same name by

List of Banned Publications in Malaysia

2009-08-30T00:52:00.004+08:00

Just in time for Merdeka - here’s a list of banned publications in Malaysia which I culled from the Kementerian Dalam Negeri (Ministry of Home Affairs) website. This includes books, magazines, letters and even music. You can check it out for yourself at this link. KDN calls it the “Ileagal Publisher List”; note that they have misspelled “illegal”. Quite ironic.Anyway, their website is very

List of diploma and degree mills

2009-08-23T12:47:00.005+08:00

In the age of Google, when info is so easy to verify, you'd think jobseekers would avoid buying fake credentials from degree and diploma mills. It would also be a pretty bad idea to post your fake credentials online, or to provide them to the press.Unfortunately, thousands of people still choose this risky shortcut, as reported by The Star:Dodgy Degreeshttp://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/

The Onion skewers pessimistic news stories

2009-08-11T10:43:00.002+08:00

This wickedly funny "story" from The Onion is an excellent send-up of all the gloom-and-doom stories in the media.Solitary Crow On Fence Post Portending Doom, Analysts Warnhttp://www.theonion.com/content/news/solitary_crow_on_fence_post

Piece be with you

2009-06-05T22:33:00.009+08:00

In America, where gun rights are almost a religion, one should not be too surprised to read this report:Gun-loving pastor to his flock: Piece be with youLOUISVILLE, Ky. – A Kentucky pastor is inviting his flock to bring guns to church to celebrate the Fourth of July and the Second Amendment.New Bethel Church is welcoming "responsible handgun owners" to wear their firearms inside the church June

"New Media" Business Template

2009-05-28T11:03:00.009+08:00

This Non Sequitur comic strip by Wiley Miller nicely summarises the problem with many "New Media" business models.(click on the thumbnail for the full strip)

Don't forget to deduct your balls

2009-04-28T13:27:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the crude headline, but I couldn’t resist ;-) If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, don’t forget the new tax deductions for sports equipment, following the amendments for 2008. By “sports equipment” I am assuming that LHDN (Inland Revenue Board) means items like tennis racquets and tennis balls. In fact, the LHDN website specifically mentions golf balls and shuttlecocks.From the LHDN

A Slap in the Facebook

2009-04-08T10:34:00.001+08:00

A Slap in the Facebook Wednesday, April 8, 2009Dear Miss Manners:With the use of online chatting and social networks like Facebook, some people feel comfortable sharing their current state of mind on away messages or status messages. For instance, a friend of mine had the following message up: "The misery just doesn't end. Yet another bad week." Another friend had this message up: "Good to know

A quick test for Conficker

2009-04-04T08:54:00.010+08:00

Wondering if you've been hit by the Conficker worm? Here's a "Conficker Eye Chart", an ingeniously simple web browser test created by Joe Stewart which takes advantage of the way the worm works.Just follow the link above, which loads a webpage with six logos. If you can't see one, or any of the logos in the top row, then you are almost certainly infected by Conficker or other malware. This is

My God.. It's full of books!

2009-03-21T15:04:00.007+08:00

MPH Stock ClearanceOngoing till 7pm Sun, Mar 22 at Mayang Plaza, Jalan SS 26/2, Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya. This was formerly the Limkokweng building.PROS: Serendipitous discoveries. Huge price cuts. Efficient checkout.CONS: Crowds. No A.C. Little organisation. Some parking problems.

Darwin Award nominees (Malaysia)

2009-02-16T09:17:00.007+08:00

The Star: Fisherman dies, four others warded after eating puffer fish>>DUNGUN: A fisherman died in mid-sea after having puffer fish for lunch on Saturday while four others have been warded for food poisoning at the hospital here.<

OMG it's a tourist, what do we do?!

2009-02-08T14:37:00.005+08:00

Startled Iraqis welcome, sort of, their first tourist (NYT/IHT)http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/06/mideast/falluja.4-424637.phpA quite amusing story about L. Marchio, who is apparently Iraq's first tourist in more than five years. Panic ensues, and border guards, embassies, the media, the police and the U.S. Army have to be alerted!(Photo credit: Michael Kamber for The New York Times)

Firefox 3: Lost bookmarks file

2009-01-31T09:16:00.000+08:00

I was trying to synchronise my Firefox bookmarks on two systems when I realised the old bookmarks.html file was no longer being used. Firefox 3 now uses the "places.sqlite" file to store bookmarks.To confuse matters, the old bookmarks.html files were still on my two systems. It was only after I checked the "last modified" date when I realised they were no longer being used by the current version

Barack Obama could be fittest US president ever

2008-12-31T17:10:00.001+08:00

At 47, Obama sure doesn't look his age, and he's buff. He places great importance on physical fitness, and tries to work out at least six days a week! More details in this Washington Post feature:As Duties Weigh Obama Down, His Faith in Fitness Only IncreasesQuote:>>Obama has gone to the gym, for about 90 minutes a day, for at least 48 days in a row. He always has treated exercise less as

Identity Register for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Malaysia

2008-12-05T12:03:00.013+08:00

The NRD (National Registration Department, or Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara) website FAQ is full of hilarious grammatical errors and Borat-like language. There are waaay too many gems on that page, so I'll just reproduce the whole text here. All errors are from their website:1. What is NRD's website?NRD website is abbreviation to official web National Registration Department. NRD website make major

Excel 101: Add/Remove carriage returns in a cell

2008-12-03T10:21:00.018+08:00

I keep running into people who insist on using MS Excel to create tables. This is a fairly common situation in Malaysia, AFAIK. Now, I'm referring to just plain text tables for things like timetables, schedule lists, address books etc - there are no calculations or formulas involved.For such tasks, one should obviously use MS Word instead of Excel, because Word has far superior table generation

BlackBerry Storm Downgraded to Depression

2008-11-27T10:52:00.004+08:00

I didn't write that headline, though I wish I did. It is (was?) the link headline from the main NYT page to David Pogue's review of the BlackBerry Storm. However, the actual review page uses this headline:No Keyboard? And You Call This a BlackBerry?Which is a shame, because the first headline was better; it goes straight into my Headline Hall of Fame.

Manufacturers unleash shrinking ray at consumer products

2008-11-11T22:44:00.004+08:00

Ever felt that your groceries or cleaning products have been running out faster lately? Well, maybe you're not imagining things.LA Times : On store shelves, stealthy shrinking of containers keeps prices from rising (Nov 9)"Quantities of peanut butter, soap and other products are reduced to keep up with rising costs. Shoppers may not know they're getting less for their money."Note this is

The next President of the United States

2008-11-07T07:44:00.010+08:00

The Boston Globe has a fabulous photo gallery of Barack Obama, covering the days leading up to, during, and just after election day. These are fairly high-res pictures:The next President of the United StatesCheck out #27 by Emmanuel Dunand of AFP. It has obvious 'Aaawww' appeal, but it also nicely encapsulates the Obama presidential campaign. I predict a Pulitzer nomination. #11 looks like a

M'sian ISPs' fair usage policies, P1 Wimax gotchas

2008-10-30T12:08:00.007+08:00

Vincent Chow has done a good job of tracking down the "fair usage" policies of our local ISPs. These are basically the bandwidth caps (limits) that may be enforced by our ISPs. Folks really need to read the fine print before signing up for services. So far, there hasn't been widespread enforcement of these caps, but the ISPs have a legal right to do so because you've agreed to the T&Cs.Read his

Windows Live Messenger ports and URLS

2008-10-13T12:23:00.006+08:00

If you're having trouble connecting with Windows Live Messenger (WLM, or formerly called MSN Messenger), it could be a firewall or proxy has not been configured to let it through. Refer to this MS article for the ports and URLS used by WLM:Network ports and URLs that are used by Windows Live Messengerhttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/927847The list cuts both ways, of course. Syadmins can also use

Digi Prepaid: Reload RM100, valid for a year

2008-09-27T17:00:00.008+08:00

I have a love-hate relationship with cellphones, leaning more toward hate. I'm not the chatty type; I only make a few calls every week, and usually, it's other people who want to call me. So, prepaid accounts are a great deal for users like me.The problem with going prepaid, of course, is the credit validity periods. Any credit you reload will eventually expire, so you could end up snowballing

Made in China = Toxic Product?

2008-09-23T11:03:00.006+08:00

The "Made in China" brand seems to have become synonymous with "Toxic Products". We've got to make sure Malaysian food manufacturers don't follow this pattern, and tarnish the "Made in Malaysia" brand.From The Australian:China's tainted food scandal a lesson for foreign firms"The Chinese Government is not feeling too much heat from the global financial meltdown. That's principally because it has

JVC AV29/25/21 series TV manual

2008-09-13T22:07:00.006+08:00

Just got a lightly-used JVC TV from a relative, for a good price. It didn't come with a manual, but I found one online. So I'm re-posting it online for the benefit of other owners. The manual covers the following JVC TV models:AV-29BS26, AV-29BX16AV-29MS26, AV-29MX16AV-29MX56, AV-29MX76AV-29SS26, AV-29SX56AV-29SX76, AV-25MS26AV-25MX16, AV-25MX56AV-25MX76, AV-21BS26AV-21BX16, AV-21BX16BAV-21MS26,

Celcom's so-called unlimited 3G broadband has a 5GB cap

2008-09-06T10:18:00.007+08:00

Celcom's 3G Broadband, which is advertised as "unlimited broadband", has a 5GB cap. Dunno whether it is strictly enforced. But the policy is listed on their site, so if you signed up without reading the fine print, then you can't really complain.Their 'fair usage policy' is laid out over 10 pages using Flash. You cannot copy the text or resize it.Check it out yourself at:http://www.celcom.com.my/

Malaysia's next top politician

2008-08-27T01:26:00.006+08:00

In light of recent developments in Permatang Pauh, I'd like to propose a new reality TV show:Not bad for about 5 minutes of Photoshopping. Though I still need to track down the exact font, and tweak the tracking and kerning. The font I used for the top line is just Arial (stretched out), while the font for the bottom line is Bauer Bodoni.

Oh, The Huge Manatee!

2008-08-16T23:00:00.003+08:00

OK, I have a weakness for good (bad) puns. Atrocious ones, even.So I'm in awe of this combo verbal and visual pun. This one really made me laugh out loud, and then I immediately felt ashamed for laughing. It was reportedly first posted in Something Awful's Photoshop Phriday, though I can't find the exact posting.Those of you who have a sense of history will get it right away. I think most people

Wi-Fi Mythbuster: Do NOT disable SSID

2008-07-30T11:45:00.007+08:00

Wi-fi users are often advised to disable or hide the SSID (Service Set Identifier, or simply, the network name) of their routers as a security measure. This tip appears in numerous web pages, books, and magazines. It even shows up on the websites of wireless product manufacturers.The idea behind disabling SSID is to make your wireless router “invisible” to hackers and other malicious users.It's

Greek chorus birdz denounce ur hubris

2008-07-11T15:06:00.004+08:00

Sometimes you just need some LOLCats/LOLBirds to put things in perspective:

Don't waste money on "premium" petrol

2008-06-27T11:31:00.012+08:00

Now that petrol prices are so high, who can afford to buy “premium” or “high-spec” petrol any more? But does premium petrol provide any benefits in the first place, and is regular petrol “low grade”? In Malaysia, regular petrol is sold at 2.62/liter, premium at RM2.70/liter, while high-spec petrol such as Shell V-power goes for RM3.00/liter or more.The bottom line is, unless your car manual

No coverage for you

2008-06-25T10:35:00.008+08:00

I have to applaud the local media for their great (if belated) display of backbone. Parliament's administration recently banned journos from entering the lobby, citing "security reasons". This is an important area for the press because press conferences are held here, and journos also have the opportunity to approach ministers and MPs directly to get comments. This week though, the area was

Petrol up 40%

2008-06-04T18:38:00.008+08:00

Well, it's finally happened. The govt has removed most (all?) of the subsidies for petrol and diesel.These subsidies were unsustainable anyway, with as much as RM40 Billion (with a B) paid out last year. That was money not being spent on infrastructure development, healthcare, education, public safety or agricultural programmes.All kinds of money-making schemes arose as a result of these fuel

Better not to be a bagman

2008-05-24T19:45:00.003+08:00

Picking a name for a company brand is never easy. But really, folks need to do a bit more research into the words and phrases they use in their company and brand names.For instance, I came across a store called Bagman in the newish Jaya33 shopping centre in PJ. This is the one near the old Jaya supermarket (R.I.P.)For me, the word "bagman" has negative connotations. Or maybe I've just watched too

The greatest ad ever

2008-04-14T21:47:00.002+08:00

Folks in the advertising industry often cite Apple's 1984 ad as the greatest TV commercial ever (full ad available on Google video). But nooooo... they are sadly mistaken. This ad from the Ivory Coast surely deserves the honour. It features Super Timor, a bug spray. Transcription (in French, thanks Mireille!):(Aïe)Ne tuez plus les moustiques avec des claques sur vos joues !(Aïe)Des claques

Election Day 2008

2008-03-08T23:18:00.006+08:00

Election Day 2008, Sect 17 PJ school.Came across this couple who took time off to vote, on their wedding day. Certainly a day to remember.If you didn't vote, what is YOUR excuse?I didn't get their names because I was shooed out not long after by the cops. Apparently, you need a permit to shoot pix within a polling station!Anyway, best wishes to the new couple, and I hope they have a great future.

Windows Vista: Don't buy yet, price cuts announced

2008-03-01T11:18:00.009+08:00

If you're planning to buy Windows Vista, wait a while more because Microsoft recently said it would slash prices on retail boxed copies of Windows Vista. No word yet on Malaysian prices.Here's a sample of pricing I got from Thundermatch on March 29:All prices in RM. Some of those prices are eye-popping, especially for Vista Ultimate. Who pays RM1,295 just for an OS?Analysts are already saying the

Direct link to Windows Live Messenger

2008-03-01T09:32:00.007+08:00

Lately, Microsoft has gone the way of Adobe, and has implemented annoying installer stubs for their downloads. For example, if you want to obtain Windows Live Messenger 8.5 aka WLM 2008, there is no direct download link from Microsoft. Instead, you first need to download something called Windows Live Installer, which will attempt to install toolbars and enable other "please send me spam"

Direct link to Adobe Reader (Acrobat Reader)

2008-02-25T18:25:00.004+08:00

One of the major annoyances about Adobe Reader, which I have written about previously, is that Adobe insists that it can only be downloaded from its own servers. This note on Tucows summarises the problem:The Adobe Acrobat Reader download is just an installer. This installer will lead to a much larger download that includes the Reader as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar and Adobe Photoshop Album

Maybe he's a phantom voter

2008-02-25T18:01:00.005+08:00

Sometimes, the jokes just write themselves.The Star: Body found in bus ferrying Umno supporters"Perhaps he was just dying to vote.""They'll just sign up anybody these days."etc.

Linux kernel creator hates cellphones, doesn't carry one

2008-02-01T22:45:00.001+08:00

Computerworld recently caught up with Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, at Linux.conf.au, an annual Free and Open Source Software conference held in Australia.Other than the usual "what's next for Linux" type of questions, writer Andrew Hendry uncovered this gem: Linus Torvalds hates cellphones, and doesn't carry one.Hendry was probably stunned when he found out, because what he had

Block Ads in Windows Live Messenger

2008-01-28T00:22:00.002+08:00

After holding out for years, I've finally installed Windows Live Messenger (formerly called MSN Messenger). Now, I've always been a big fan of Pidgin, an open-source chat client, but it turns out Pidgin may not be fully compatible with the MSN chat network.In the past few weeks, I've missed a quite few MSN messages while using Pidgin, without even realising it. Some people thought I was ignoring

Facebook = Granfalloon

2008-01-20T13:42:00.000+08:00

Earlier last year, Emily Yoffe wrote a humorous column for Slate titled Fiftysomething, Facebooking, and Fabulous! with the sub-heading, "Last week I had zero friends on Facebook. Now I have 775."Although it has some "old-fart-discovers-new-tech" content, it also has many witty observations and anecdotes about Facebook, and about friendships.I learned a new word from the column - granfalloon,

"Personal friend" is the new FWB

2008-01-03T22:16:00.000+08:00

It's unfortunate that despite all his accomplishments, Dr. Chua's lasting legacy may be the creation of a new euphemism - personal friend.Since this concept of "personal friend" may be new to some Malaysians, I would like to point everyone to the casual relationship section in Wikipedia (warning: has some rude words).A friend opined that "personal friend" sounds like an oxymoron, but I

Nero micro and Nero lite

2008-01-02T15:00:00.000+08:00

I've always liked Nero Burning ROM, but the past few versions have become really bloated.This hasn't resulted in big improvements in Nero Burning ROM, which has stayed virtually unchanged. The problem is, Nero AG insists on distributing it with a whole bunch of other stuff I do not want.A quick check on the Nero site shows that the main installer for the latest version, Nero 8 weighs in at a

GMail outage

2007-12-25T10:58:00.000+08:00

It almost makes me believe in magical thinking. Not long after I plugged Google to someone, GMail dies on me. It's been unavailable for 15 hours as I write this. If you're also experiencing this, you could try this section in GMail Help Discussion, or you could report the problem to Google.The error message is:Temporary Error (502)We’re sorry, but your Gmail account is currently experiencing

All your job are belong to Filipinos

2007-12-22T00:24:00.000+08:00

So folks, the Phillipines is not just the land where Filipino maids come from, but it is the land where our future jobs are going to.According to a recent market forecast by XMG, the Philippines is poised to overtake Malaysia in the race for global outsourcing revenues.As expected, M'sia is in denial, and our government doesn't seem too concerned. One M'sian tecnocrat even claims Malaysia offers

New cover sheets on all the TPS reports

2007-12-18T11:46:00.000+08:00

Well these things do exist after all, and not just in Office Space. According to good old Wikipedia,"A TPS report is a document used in software engineering, in particular by a Software Quality Assurance group or individual, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.The term TPS report has come to denote pointless busy work assigned by employers without doing anything

Facebook becoming a real word?

2007-12-10T22:31:00.000+08:00

Merriam-Webster (MW) recently concluded its annual Word of the Year poll, and the results are pending.To my surprise, "facebook" is on this year's list. You might recall that MW ran a similar poll last year, and the word "truthiness" won by a large margin, beating out even "google".The fellas over at Mountain View got the last laugh though - "google" was inducted as a verb in both the Oxford

Blocking stupid Zombies, Vampires, et al apps

2007-12-01T08:49:00.000+08:00

Boy, is there anything more annoying on Facebook than those idiotic Zombies, Vampires, et al apps?I didn't install any of them, of course, but somehow, other people's actions were showing up on my News Feed.Turns out you can block all updates from these apps by surfing to their main page, and clicking on the Block app link. It's located at the lower right corner, below the "Afraid of abuse by

Cash for old IT junk

2007-11-03T00:18:00.000+08:00

MBPJ and Dell Asia Pacific are jointly organising the Computer Recycling Campaignstarting September 2007 to January 2008. A total of 9 Centres in PJ are collecting computers and other accessories such as printers, plotters, mice, keyboards and monitors.The recyable items can be either in usable or broken condition. You'll get paid 40 sen per kg for these items.Check out The Star's coverage

Burma: Child Soldiers

2007-10-31T22:53:00.000+08:00

Do we really need another reason to boot Burma (Myanmar) out of ASEAN?Now reports are surfacing that the Burmese junta is recruiting child soldiers. This is because its adult soldiers have started deserting in large numbers, partly because they oppose the recent crackdown on Buddhist monks.Now "recruiting" is a euphemism here, and I won't even use the word "conscripting". The children are usually

Google steps up GMail gig race

2007-10-21T06:57:00.000+08:00

Sometime in the past few days, when I wasn't looking, my GMail storage space raced past the 4GB mark. It had hit the 3GB mark only a week ago. GMail is falling behind some of its webmail competitors, some of which offer 5GB or more space.So it seems that Google is stepping up the gig race, and is adding storage faster than its usual rate.Update, Nov 17: Storage is now near the 5GB mark.

Burma: The Petronas Connection

2007-10-07T14:55:00.000+08:00

Despite all the noises that Malaysia is making about Burma's human rights record, the government has conveniently forgotten its embarrassing link to the Burmese military junta.An article in The Sydney Morning Herald, titled Oil companies look to exploit Burma, reveals that companies like Petronas are more than willing to continue doing business with the military regime.A piece in Times Online,

Famous phantom voters

2007-09-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

It seems we even have famous phantom voters these days. Well-known Malaysian blogger Rocky (Ahirudin Attan) is also a phantom voter, as he recently discovered for himself after visiting the SPR website.rocky's bru: Excuse me, WTF registered me as a voter?You may also want to check out my earlier postings about the SPR website and phantom voters.

SPR website may need old IC

2007-09-07T09:55:00.000+08:00

Following on from the previous posting, a few readers have reported that the SPR website doesn't have their voter records, even though they registered many months ago.If you also provided an old IC no during registration, you could try using that instead.That seems to be the case with my record; keying in the new IC no. did not return any records. Only my old IC no. got results.This is puzzling

Are you a phantom voter?

2007-09-02T13:22:00.000+08:00

Blogger Dr. Prince recently discovered that he is a registered voter in Kedah, even though he has never registered, and never voted before.You can check your own voter status at the Election Commission (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya, or SPR) website. Who knows, you may have "voted" during the last election even though you have not registered. And I'm guessing you "voted" for BN!Note that the SPR

Interesting corp policy to encourage healthy living

2007-08-28T22:55:00.000+08:00

From BusinessWeek:Being Unhealthy Could Cost You -- MoneyAugust 2For employees at Clarian Health, feeling the burn of trying to lose weight will take on new meaning.In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat) is over 30. If their

Don't forget the New Umno Anthem

2007-08-17T18:26:00.000+08:00

Not sure what all the excitement with Negarakuku is about.Don't forget there is also the New Umno Anthem (Lagu Baru UMNO) available on youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwDv3CwIm4sAccording to the youtube page, it was uploaded more than one year ago and has been viewed more than 29,900 times. The caption below says, "This is a video response to Umno Youth protest at Asean Ministerial meeting

Ministry is capricious, contradictory with 24-hour rulings

2007-08-16T00:13:00.000+08:00

Now, I am no big fan of oil companies and petrol stations, but I feel the Ministry has overstepped its authority in this “must open 24 hours” issue. Since these are private businesses (not owned by government), the Ministry has no authority to dictate their opening hours. If it can do this, what is to stop the Ministry from dictating the opening hours for any other businesses? For example, it

Hypermarts should be allowed to open 24 hours then

2007-08-15T14:04:00.000+08:00

If the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs says petrol kiosks in strategic locations must continue to operate 24 hours, why not allow hypermarts to open 24 hours too?Since the Malaysian public tends to have a short memory, here's a reminder of the Ministry's stance on hypermarkets:Publication Date: 08.04.2004Publication: The StarSection: MainPage Title: NationPage: 24Subject:

Antitrust

2007-08-11T12:20:00.000+08:00

I read with interest Star's Jun 9 front page story about the beef import cartel under the headline Cartel broken. However, the story is a little scant about how exactly the cartel was “broken” and how it came about in the first place. It also raises other questions. For example, are there competition laws or anti-cartel (i.e. antitrust) laws in Malaysia? Is their behaviour even illegal (from the

Heading off Skycar hype

2007-08-03T17:21:00.000+08:00

We're starting to hear from Moller International again about its skycar, which is variously billed as a flying saucer, flying car, or flying vehicle.This time around, there seem to be photos and videos of the product, plus you get the inevitable Jetsons references. Now this kind of story always gets writers and editors excited; just search Google News for "skycar" and you'll get a bunch of

Time to quit soft drinks

2007-07-24T13:44:00.000+08:00

In today’s Reuters story run in The Star:No safe haven: Diet sodas linked with health risksSoft drinks -- even diet ones -- may be linked with increased risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, US researchers said on Jul 23.And if that’s not a good a enough reason to quit soft drinks, try reading this earlier article in The Independent (

SciFi.com to remove its fiction archive

2007-06-23T18:23:00.000+08:00

I'm not a big fan of reading fiction online, but sometimes that's the only avenue available, especially for "niche" categories like sci-fi.So, I'm sad that SciFi.com is nuking its fiction archive, as reported by Boing Boing. The reasons cited being rights issues, and low traffic.Among the notable stories in the archive is "The Ugly Chickens" by Howard Waldrop, which is one of my favorite stories,

Proton: Let it die

2007-06-01T15:12:00.000+08:00

The former PM's pet project, which was already unravelling even during his tenure, has now completely transformed into a black hole for taxpayer's money.Even if Proton could magically produce better cars tomorrow, who in their right mind would buy a car from a dying company? And yes, a RM591mil loss for FY07, and declining profits since 2003 certainly qualifies as "dying".For that matter, which

Another contact lens solution recall

2007-05-28T00:19:00.001+08:00

NY Times story:Lens Solution Is Pulled Over Link to InfectionA contact lens solution manufacturer voluntarily withdrew one of its products yesterday after federal health officials said an investigation had linked it to a rare but potentially blinding eye infection.Customers were advised to immediately stop using the solution, AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Solution. The solution, used

Shanghai at night

2007-05-26T12:44:00.002+08:00

A couple of night shots from my recent Shanghai trip.

Adobe Reader mind games

2007-05-23T12:31:00.000+08:00

One thing really annoying about Adobe's Acrobat Reader is that it cannot be obtained anywhere else except from Adobe's website. This note on Tucows summarises the problem:The Adobe Acrobat Reader download is just an installer. This installer will lead to a much larger download that includes the Reader as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar and Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition. These items will

Illumi-Lite = LED Backlight

2007-05-15T17:11:00.000+08:00

Just returned a few days ago from the HP Mobility Summit held Shanghai, China. Among the more interesting products is the HP Compaq 2710p notebook which comes with an Illumi-Lite display. I've confirmed with HP that the term is marketing-speak for LED backlighting.Current notebook displays all use cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) technology for backlighting. Among the benefits LEDs have over

So-called "dust removal" systems are BS

2007-04-22T18:31:00.000+08:00

My colleague Tan Kit Hoong pointed me to an interesting article about the so-called "dust removal" systems on current DSLRs.The fellas over at Pixinfo examine the various DSLRs on the market which are touted to "remove dust" from their image sensors. Then they conducted extensive dust tests.Apparently, in the case of the Pentax K10D and the Sony Alpha, their "dust removal" systems introduced more

Task Manager mysteriously disabled

2007-04-02T15:32:00.001+08:00

An In.Tech reader complained that his Task Manager has been mysteriously disabled:Hi, I keep my Dell laptop updated in every way possible, and I have a legal copy of Norton Internet Security 2006.However, I found out not too long ago, whenever I press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, the Task Manager doesn’t appear but instead I get a message saying... “Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator.”I’m

Raising cop salaries just the start

2007-03-30T12:05:00.000+08:00

Raising cop salaries in M'sia is a good start against corruption, but other measures such as transparency of business rules, laws, freedom of the press, and cultural pressure are also needed.A 2004 article from Radio Free Europe covers this topic well: Is Raising State Salaries Enough To Combat Corruption? http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/04/761efa32-229e-4ecb-bf4d-f07b42c35fc1.htmlor

Ribena in NZ found to have no Vit C

2007-03-29T01:37:00.001+08:00

Two Kiwi schoolgirls are worldwide celebrities after their school experiment forced an international pharmaceutical and food giant to admit it made false claims about vitamin C levels in Ribena. - NZPAMany news reports. Just search Google News for "ribena vitamin".Which begs the question: how much vitamin C (if any) is there in the Ribena sold in Malaysia? Personally, I don't think you should be

Wiping old hard disks

2007-03-16T19:05:00.000+08:00

An In.Tech reader inquired:I have an old hard disk which I’ve not used for a long time but before I send it to be recycled I want to make sure all the data is wiped out. Any idea where I can get this done?B. Rozariovia e-mailWell, you certainly have reason to be cautious.In a 2005 study, a British research team bought 100 hard disks off eBay and found half of them still contained sensitive

Digi ad is offensive

2007-03-08T13:17:00.000+08:00

I fully agree with Star's Hoo Ban Kee's opinion piece titled"Hello, where are your manners?" (http://tinyurl.com/33783w)I also found the recent CNY TV ad from Digi ("Longevity Calls") to be offensive. It depicts a "reunion dinner" where everyone at the table is busy chatting on their handphones. (see screencapt) Worse, the ad also depicts a child looking on in puzzlement at all the adults with

No ban of fast food ads, but don't allow kid ads

2007-03-06T21:52:00.003+08:00

I think fast food companies should be allowed to advertise, like any other business. However, I propose the following restrictions because of the high number of ads aimed at kids:1) No targeting of children in fast food ads.2) No sponsorship of cartoons and "kid's clubs".3) No bundling of toys and a kid-related products with fast food.4) No setting up of playgrounds or "daycare" centres at fast

Quantum leap

2007-02-12T00:04:00.000+08:00

D-Wave will demonstrate the world's first commercial quantum computer on Tuesday (Feb 13) at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. If it works, that means it can solve some of the most difficult problems, called NP-complete problems, thousands of times faster than current supercomputers.Initially, D-Wave (Vancouver, B.C.) will lease time on its quantum computer, which will be

Orang-hutang pt. 2

2007-02-03T11:15:00.000+08:00

Some good news for taxpayers and other honest debtors. PTPTN higher education loan defaulters will now be on a blacklist to be supplied to banks and credit card companies, as reported by The Star. Not that I'm trying to take credit for this, but this was exactly what I proposed in my Oct 26 posting.The immediate effect of this move is, the deadbeats will now have a difficult time getting other

A Real alternative

2007-01-30T13:35:00.000+08:00

An In.Tech reader needed to view some RealVideo files from the Internet but was hesitant to install RealPlayer because his friends had encountered problems with this software. He asks if there is a way to convert or play RealVideo/ RealMedia files without installing RealPlayer?Here's my reply: You are right to be hesitant about RealPlayer from RealNetworks Inc. Previous versions of RealPlayer

Car owners getting a free ride

2007-01-29T22:41:00.000+08:00

Some car owner over at The Star Citizen's Blog is of the opinion that motorcyclists are getting a free lunch, and should be forced to pay tolls and road tax.As a user of both a motorbike and a car, I agree that there is "no such thing as a free lunch". But he or she has got it wrong about who is getting the free lunch. Cars consume a lot more petrol than motorcycles. This means the car owners

Are you discrete, or discreet?

2007-01-27T00:35:00.001+08:00

Consider the following sentences which have previously appeared in The Star:"...dining room was plush without being overwhelming while the service was charming yet discrete.""Xxx's two discrete rooms are the perfect place to entertain business guests for private functions."In both cases, the intended word was probably discreet. Discrete means "constituting a separate entity : individually

Andy Bhasin, spammer

2007-01-22T18:43:00.000+08:00

Boy, is he a prolific spammer. He apparently works for some outfit called APIMD and he regularly sends out thousands of spam touting their training courses. It's not as if APIMD can deny anything; they've already sent out so much of the crap over the years.I think they've managed to spam most, if not all e-mail accounts in Malaysia and Singapore. Just Google for apimd.com and you'll see various

Hold Your Wee for a Wii

2007-01-17T22:06:00.000+08:00

Sometimes the headlines write themselves.A California woman died of water intoxication after taking part in a radio station's water-drinking contest to win a Nintendo Wii video game system. Participants competed to see how much water they could drink without going to the bathroom.The contest was called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii", thus providing the greatest ready-made headline ever. All Google

Beware of open and "free" proxies

2007-01-06T22:34:00.001+08:00

With Internet access still quite crippled in Malaysia, I've noticed some postings on forums and some blogs about "free" web proxies located in other countries. These proxies are provided by ostensibly "generous" persons who want to "help" you surf the net.Speaking from personal experience, setting up a secure and properly configured web proxy is not a trivial matter. In fact, I would only do so

Is this 2007 or 1997?

2006-12-31T14:47:00.000+08:00

As we enter 2007, almost all Net users in Malaysia will only be able to surf at modem-like speeds, or worse. After years of using broadband, it feels a bit surreal. To add to the surreality, a fair number of major websites are still unreachable, almost as if they never existed. I found that even the mighty Google was inaccessbile at times.As my colleague H. Amir Khalid wrote for In.Tech:It's 1997

Net access severely affected by quake

2006-12-27T14:11:00.000+08:00

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Taiwan early this morning (the 27th). Unfortunately, it also damaged major undersea cables (submarine cables) which is causing a slowdown in Internet access for most of Asia. No word yet on when the problem will be fixed. Most ISPs have issued statements saying "traffic diversion and restoration works are currently in progress" or something

No In.Tech on Boxing Day

2006-12-26T11:39:00.000+08:00

The Star will not be published on Dec 26 due to the Christmas break. That also means no In.Tech this Tuesday. The Star will be back on Wednesday, Dec 27. While the next In.Tech will appear on Thursday, Dec 28.Happy Holidays, all.

Shared memory means less for OS

2006-12-20T13:24:00.000+08:00

An In.Tech reader inquired recently:I bought a computer recently with the following specifications:Processor: AMD Sempron 3000+ 64-bitMotherboard: A33G SATA ATXMemory: 512MBHowever, when I did a system information check, I noticed that the memory showed this information:Total physical memory: 447.30MBAvailable physical memory: 212.26MBHave I been short-changed?A. Samyvia e-mailIt sounds like you

Outsourcing: Multi-super what?

2006-12-12T07:04:00.000+08:00

A BusinessWeek feature examines the trend of companies increasingly sending IT work to hubs outside India. Ominously, Malaysia is not even mentioned as an outsourcing destination.Outsourcing: Beyond Bangalore "So companies are setting their sights on a slew of emerging hot spots for IT outsourcing. Need a multilingual workforce adept at developing security systems and testing software? Buna ziua,

AutoHotkey and regular expressions

2006-12-09T14:54:00.000+08:00

I've been using AutoHotkey, a powerful scripting language, for about a year. During this time, I've written several programs to make my work at In.Tech easier. A few of my colleagues also use the programs and they seem to like what I've created. The latest version of AutoHotkey (1.0.45 and onward) now supports Regular Expressions, which makes it even more powerful.AutoHotkey is open source and

Antivirus is Dead

2006-12-03T17:15:00.001+08:00

I've heard this prediction a few times over the years. And now it seems to be finally happening. Let's start with a ZDNet report from July:Why popular antivirus apps 'do not work'which reveals that antivirus apps are largely useless against new trojans and viruses.Then Info World's Roger A. Grimes asked in Sept:Is the end of anti-virus finally here? Now we have the CTO of BigFix who declares:

Stop making crap

2006-11-27T16:11:00.000+08:00

Andy Ihnatko is merciless in his Chicago Sun-Times review of Microsoft's Zune player:Avoid the loony ZuneIf you (or anyone else you know) are contemplating the Zune, you need to read this review. The Zune may be the most anti-consumer player ever sold. As a bonus, this is probably the most entertaining product review I've read this year.Photo: John Froschauer / AP

More Sony defects

2006-11-25T10:55:00.000+08:00

As if they don't have enough QC problems. Sony has said it will recall eight models of its Cyber-shot digital cameras after finding a defect in the LCD screen. It is apparently caused by condensation. The screens might not display images correctly, images could be distorted or cameras might not take photos at all, Sony Corp said in a statement. The affected models are DSC-F88, DSC-M1, DSC-T1,

Malaysia Bodoh

2006-11-19T19:29:00.000+08:00

Since the govt is so concerned about "gwailo opinion", maybe it should listen to this guy:While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dryMichael Backman in The AgeIn this column, he blasts Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world, its preoccupation with Malay vs. Chinese wealth, its wasteful megaprojects, and other missed opportunities. He concludes the column with a

Malaysia's broadband

2006-11-15T23:41:00.000+08:00

In the Nov 16 issue of In.Tech I took a look at Malaysia's consumer broadband situation. Bottom line: About 700,000 broadband users in Malaysia, and more ISP choices now but coverage still mainly around the Klang Valley.

Just a SOCKS puppet

2006-11-10T23:31:00.000+08:00

I was looking for a free SOCKS server for testing, and discovered there aren't many around any more, at least not for Windows. Does anyone even use SOCKS any more? I downloaded Antinat, but never got around to running it. It uses XML-based config files and looks too formidable to set up.Next I tried FreeProxy, but just couldn't get it to work. One thing I don't like about FreeProxy is, while it