Coffee and cigarettes

Cost of living and lack of savings seem to be big issues in Malaysia. I offer two simple suggestions: Quit smoking, and significantly cut down on "fancy" coffee and other drinks.

Let's assume you spend RM10 every day on cigarettes and RM10 on "fancy" coffee, that would be RM20 every day, or RM600 a month or RM7,300 a year just for coffee and cigarettes. Over 10 years, that would be RM73,000, enough to buy a decent new foreign car! Or even make a housing down-payment.

Now, RM73,000 is a substantial amount, and that was assuming you had just kept it "under your matress" (no investments). If you had invested that money instead, 10-year compounded interest at 3%/year (considered low for FD rate these days) would turn that RM73,000 to over RM83,686.

You can check it out for yourself with this useful Compound interest calculator.

I'm always amused when certain people cry out, "Where did all my money go?" or "How come I've worked for 10 years and have no savings?"

Maybe just quit smoking and fancy coffee?


Credit: Rae Aleen/flicker/CC

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

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 the direct link:

http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/10.x/10.0.1/en_US/AdbeRdr1001_en_US.exe

A final request is not the same as a death wish

I was quite appalled to read this headline for a story about an ex-PM of Vietnam:

A Malaysian death wish for ex-PM


This 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 has very negative connotations:

death wish n.

1. A desire for self-destruction, often accompanied by feelings of depression, hopelessness, and self-reproach.
2. A suicidal urge that presumably drives certain people to put themselves consistently into dangerous situations.

* death wish. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company (accessed: July 28, 2011).

If you want to use an idiom, make sure you know what it really means!

LCD TV prices expected to fall

The AP reports that LCD TV prices are expected to fall due to reduced demand.

AP: LCD TV companies see falling prices as demand down

SEATTLE (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 the Xmas or New Year sales. If you're selling your LCD TV though, you'd better get rid of it soon!

In related news, The Star reports that the Malaysian consumer retail market is expected to be weak in the second half as consumers are becoming more cautious with their spending.

Teh tarik, soft drink prices should NOT go up

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 which are not covered by the subsidy. If these factories complain about rising sugar prices, it implies that they are "stealing" from the consumer (retail) supplies of sugar.

The same goes for soft drink and other bottled/can drink factories. They should also be using bulk sugar only. Anyway, a number of these factories have switched to using high-fructose corn syrup as a sugar substitute. So again, there is no justification for any rise in prices.

It's not a battle royale unless...

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 Koushun Takami. The film was quite controversial when it first came out. It is known for its violent scenes and dark humour.

The intended phrase, battle royal, is a very old idiom, and it means "a fight in which more than two combatants are engaged" or "a heated argument".

The Star apparently knows the difference between the two phrases and has not used it in recent months (though they've let it slip into their the citizen's blogs and letters to the editor).

In the case of the duelling royal houses, I suppose you could invoke the film title because apparently, a gun was involved.

List of Banned Publications in Malaysia

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 unuser-friendly, so I wrote a little program to scrape all the pages and dump them all into one neat Excel file. Plus, I’ve translated some of the terms from B.M., fixed the inconsistent date formats, and fixed most of the ALL-CAPS words.

This list is current as of Aug 31, 2009 and you can view the complete banlist here at the Zoho Viewer website; no special program is needed. You can also download the Excel file from there, if you want to slice-and-dice it in your favourite spreadsheet program or database program.

Thanks to Erna for reminding me about this list.

List of diploma and degree mills

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 Degrees
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/23/nation/4522725

One "university" which wasn't listed in the Sunday Star story is Washington International University, which is also a well-known diploma mill.

See the Oregon Office of Degree Authorization website, where WIU is clearly listed as a degree mill:
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx

WIU is also listed on the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's page of "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas":
http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/apps/ConsumerInfo/NoTX.cfm

You'll also get an idea of other "colleges" to avoid by browsing the above links. Obtaining a real degree takes time, effort, and commitment. Don't let your company hire anyone with one of these "degrees," and if you have a colleague with one of these credentials, you should report them.

The Onion skewers pessimistic news stories

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 Warn
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/solitary_crow_on_fence_post

Piece be with you

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 you

LOUISVILLE, 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 27, a Saturday. An ad says there will be a handgun raffle, patriotic music and information on gun safety.

This headline goes straight into my Headline Hall of Fame. Kudos to the writer or editor!

Also, who could resist gun-toting pastors?

UPDATE: My pal Riggy, an arms expert of sorts, has identified the pastor's gun as a Walther P99. It seems the pastor has James Bond aspirations! In recent Bond movies, this gun has replaced Bond's classic Walther PPK.

(AP Photo/Aaron Borton, The Courier-Journal, Story by By DYLAN T. LOVAN, Associated Press Writer)

"New Media" Business Template

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

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 website:
“An amount limited to a maximum of RM300 is deductible in respect of expenses expended by the individual for the purchase of sports equipment for any sports activity as defined under the Sports Development Act 1997. Sports equipment includes equipment with short lifespan e.g. golf balls and shuttlecocks but excluding sports attire, e.g. swimsuits and sports shoes.”

Among the sports covered in the Sports Development Act are tennis, football, basketball, badminton, golf, and squash. In all, 39 sports are covered (see below).

Unfortunately, the new exemptions exclude sports attire; the LHDN notes (see below) specifically exclude swimsuits and sports shoes! So you can’t deduct those Hush Puppies or Manolo Blahniks (nice try). That also means you can’t deduct that Speedo Fastskin LZR Racer swimsuit that you bought (as used by Mark Phelps, et al. Costs around RM2,200).

I was also quite amused by the inclusion of shooting and archery in the Sports Development Act. If I’m reading the LHDN exemptions right, that means you can deduct the cost of bullets and arrows!

Remember that you will need to have receipts for items you want to deduct, plus you’ll need to keep them for seven years. If all you have are the credit card receipts, remember to photocopy them, because they have an annoying tendency to fade over time.

Here are some useful links:

LHDN: Explanatory Notes for BE form 2008 (Income Tax of an Individual, PDF file. It’s in English!)
http://www.hasil.gov.my/english/pdf/Explanatory%20Notes%20B%202008.pdf
Go to this section:
D8C - Purchase of sports equipment for any sports activity as defined under the Sports Development Act 1997. Also check out the other sections for stuff you can deduct.

Sports Development Act 1997 (PDF file)
http://www.parlimen.gov.my/actindexbi/pdf/ACT-576.pdf
p. 23 has a list of activities regarded as sports for the purposes of the Act.

Your tax queries answered (The Star)
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/22/focus/3527810&sec=focus
Star’s column basically rehashes the Explanatory Notes for sports equipment. But you may get some useful info about other deductibles.

Image ganked from AlterMedia România.

A Slap in the Facebook

A Slap in the Facebook

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Dear 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 I've found the person I might be ready to settle down with."

When I asked the first friend why she was having a bad week, she said that "things" have been happening lately. I tried to get a little more information from her, but realized she wasn't really providing me with any, so I backed off and just told her I hoped things would get better.

She later mentioned in the online conversation that I was not a good "conversationalist." Am I supposed to beg people for information from now on?

As for my friend who thought announcing a soon-to-be fiancee was an appropriate thing to do on Facebook, I tried asking him about his status as well. His response was that he would prefer to keep things on the "down low" for now and that his status message was not an invitation for people to pry.

Am I going crazy here, or are people really sending mixed signals? It seems to me that some people purposely try to get you to ask them questions, but when you do, they brush you off or act like YOU are the one prying into their business, even when they opened the door in the first place. Why is it so hard to be a good friend these days? Help!

Miss Manners says:
Your friends are turning into virtual friends. They want to advertise their every move and feeling to a presumably rapt and admiring audience but do not want to participate in the give-and-take of actual friendship.

The model for this, as Miss Manners is not the first to observe, is the celebrity. They "do" publicity through trusted chroniclers -- in this case themselves -- but are huffy about their "privacy" when they manage to attract someone's interest, which must be seldom enough.

So to continue your admirable concern for friends, Miss Manners is afraid you must note whether their confidences are being made to you as a friend or the wide world of virtual so-called friends who are not expected to show interest. Or you could make new friends who value real friendship.

A quick test for Conficker

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 because the Conficker worm (or other malware) will attempt to block any connections to anti-virus software company servers.


Stewart originally hosted the "eye chart" on his own server; it is now hosted by the Conficker Working Group, which is led by Microsoft and a number of anti-virus/ computer security software companies.

I was quite amused that Stewart had the opportunity for a little Unix advocacy. The other test images on the "eye chart" are the logos for Openbsd, Linux, and FreeBsd, and are linked to their respective websites. The worm, BTW, only infects Windows boxes.

If you suspect an infection, try using any of the repair tools from the Conficker Working Group.

In related news, there was some Conficker-themed geek humour going around on April 1.

(Thanks F-Secure)

My God.. It's full of books!

MPH Stock Clearance

Ongoing 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)

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.<<


Never mind that puffer fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, and it takes years to become a licenced Fugu chef!

The Darwin Award, in case you don't know, is given to people who "do a service to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool."

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

Startled Iraqis welcome, sort of, their first tourist (NYT/IHT)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/06/mideast/falluja.4-424637.php

A 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

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 of Firefox.

More details here:
MozillaZine: Lost bookmarks after Firefox 3 upgrade

Barack Obama could be fittest US president ever

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 Increases
Quote:
>>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 recreation than requirement, but his devotion has intensified during the past few months. Between workouts during his Hawaii vacation this week, he was photographed looking like the paradigm of a new kind of presidential fitness, one geared less toward preventing heart attacks than winning swimsuit competitions. The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weightlifting sessions each week, and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games.<<

Now, I had to qualify the headline to say "fittest US president". For the fittest head of state, I don't think anyone can beat Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Russia. He was also the country's former President and a former KGB agent. At 56, he looks about as young as Obama, and is in great shape for his age. Plus, Putin holds a 6th Dan Judo Black Belt. If Obama and Putin were to go mano-a-mano, I'd put my money on Putin.
So, if the leaders of the two largest superpowers can find the time to exercise and maintain high levels of fitness, then there really is no excuse for anyone else. I am inspired by Obama's and Putin's discipline and commitment to fitness.

Happy New Year to all, and may you have a healthy and fit year ahead!

Photo credits: Hawaii Magazine; RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service/AP Photo

Identity Register for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Malaysia

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 world to information and national registration department service through Internet.

2. Why this website been created?

Latterly, information and service majority National Registration Department has been prepared by online and NRD website been created to provide convenience to the public find information and service that are provided.

3. Whom were allowed surf and use this website ?

Generally, this website could be achieved by all society. However, there were some information and service that need registration.

4. What is privacy policy for this website? Am I been recorded or not?

All access and your use up on this website shall not be recorded. To further information, please visit to 'Privacy Policy And Safety Policy' in bottom of each page.

5. What method for I contact National Registration Department?

You can contact us:-
Public Relations Office
Tel: (redacted)
Fax: (redacted)

6. How should I sent my feedback to Goverment Agencies?

You can fill form in the division "Public Complaint System" In NRD website. It would be channelled to the divisions relating.


(Thanks for the tip, Medaline.)

Update: A screencapt for posterity

Update Dec 9, 2008 : The webpage has been removed. Good thing I made a screencapt.