Introducing Soccer Manager 2009 online

Can hardly wait for the release of Football Manager 2009? Don't feel like re-installing the old FM2008 either? Okay, I think this is the right game for you to restrain your addiction to it before 14th November.

Soccer Manager 08/09 is a Flash game presented by mousebreaker.com. It might be a bit simple to you but at least it comes with the 20 teams from English Premier League and also their current first team squads. Another good thing is, it doesn't consume too much of RAM so you can play it in the office, it won't slow down your computer and you can switch between your worksheet and the game... hehe! Anyway, Don't put the blame on me if you ever get caught by your boss.

URL to start your managerial life :-
*Soccer Manager 08/09*

You can also play the previous seasons :-
Soccer Manager 07/08
Soccer Manager 06/07
Soccer Manager 05/06

World longest city name, an interesting Guinness record

Guinness World Records, officially known as the Guinness Book of Records, is a reference book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of world records for both human achievements and the extreme of the natural world. Besides, the book itself also holds a world record as the best-selling copyrighted series of all-time.

Because of natural human curiosity, people always have the desire to know more about the novel or extraordinary things that arouse interest. This was one of the factors how the Guinness Book of Records came into shape, I believe. Among the records that I have ever heard of, this one is an amazing one to me...
"Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit."

What does it actually mean? Well, the whole phrase is originally in Thai and it is the full name of Krung Thep, the capital city of Thailand which is more commonly known as Bangkok. For this, Bangkok is recognized by Guinness World Records as the capital city with the longest name! In English, it means "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam."

It took me nearly 30 seconds to pronounce the full name, in the wrong way, of course. What about you? A fantastic record?

Happy Deepavali 2008

YO! HAAAAAAPPY DEEPAVALI & HAPPY HOLIDAY!! :D

^.^ ^.^ ^.^

Adult eye chart for men

What is an eye chart? An eye chart is a chart used to measure visual acuity. Eye charts usually display several rows of test symbols called optotypes, and each row in a different size. Under normal procedure, the person is asked to sit in front of the chart and identify the numbers or letters on it, usually starting with large rows and continuing to smaller rows until the optotypes cannot be reliably identified anymore.Technically speaking, testing visual acuity with an eye chart is a psycho-physical measurement that attempts to determine a sensory threshold.

As showing above, on the left hand side, it is a typical one called Snellen Chart. There are also other types like Landolt C and Lea Test but I bet you never heard of this one -- Eye chart for men, which is also shown above on the right hand side.

Some of you may think this chart must be taken from some adult sites but I can tell you that this one is actually seen in Shanghai, China and has recently caused some debates in the public. The woman in the chart strips as the symbol (picture?) turns smaller. This 'creative' chart may have drawn interest of men but the professionals have strongly denied its accuracy and slammed the purpose and the use of the ridiculous eye chart.

Well, I do not really know where the idea comes from but one thing for sure is sexually explicit content has already become a bad competitive weapon. I truly hope that our people will not believe in this thing if we ever see this around us one day.

Apple introduces new Macbooks in Malaysia

A new series of MacBooks were officially announced today. I believe many are keeping an eye on the news of Apple's new notebooks and already know its technology very well, where all the technical information can be easily found on Apple's official site. Therefore, what most people would like to know is how much these things will cost in Malaysian Ringgit, as well as when they will be seen on rack.

The details for retail price are as follows :-
The lowest end Macbook comes with a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 160GB HDD and the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics solution costs RM4,799;
The next model comes with a processor upgrade (2.4GHz), greater storage space (250GB) and an illuminated keyboard costs RM5,899;
The MacBook Pro line comes with a 2.4GHz processor, 2GB DDR3 SDRAM, 250GB HDD and GeForce 9600M 256MB graphics costs RM7,199;
The following model which has a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 320GB HDD and GeForce 9600M 512MB costs RM8,999;
Lastly, the MacBook Air comes with a 1.6GHz processor and a 120GB SATA HDD costs RM6,599; and
the other variant comes with a 1.86GHz processor and a 128GB SSD costs RM8,999.

However, the new MacBooks are not put on sale yet despite the announcement. Apple Malaysia is still working on it and it is said to aim the release in early November.

8 notches drop for Malaysia in press freedom ranking

Indeed, Malaysia's press freedom ranking is on a free fall. It already crashed into the bottom quarter of 173 countries in the worldwide press freedom ranking index released today by Paris-based watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF, Reporters Without Borders). Malaysia recorded a worst-ever ranking by falling 8 spots from 2007's 124th to current 132nd place.

The facts that Umno-linked New Straits Time has long been a tool to the government, major media are being controlled and are sometimes facing crack-down and bloggers have been continuously threatened by ISA are believed to be the main reasons for the drastic blow. If Malaysia continues to ignore recommendations to revamp its press freedoms, this shameful position could turn even worse next year.

Meanwhile, Bintulu MP Dato Seri Tiong King Sing blasted 3 Astro AEC TV programmes "Living in Malaysia"(身在马来西亚), "Evening Editor"(新闻报报看) and "马华党选面面观", claiming that these tv programmes spitefully emphasize on the bad sides of the government and only deliver negative message to the audience. He even urged the relevant department to take action against AEC.

In fact, the new episode of "Living in Malaysia" was already put on hold. Why? To our BN leaders, citizens must be taught to irrationally believe in the "flawless government"? And whatever discussion about administrative error is just prohibited? This is simply insane, something goes really wrong!

KLSE Real-time Monitor - handy tool for stock investment

Guys and girls, I know many of you keep asking me about the tool I'm using to monitor KLSE market. I think it would be easier to put up here so that you can download it at anytime and I can take back my thumbdrive. Hehe...

What is it? The monitoring tool is an utility which provides KLSE (Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) real time monitoring. It is integrated with a powerful stock indicators editor. This handy tool is highly modularized, where other countries' stock market information can be plugged in easily. Distribution of this software is granted under the GNU General Public License. Want to know more? Find out yourself.

Full version Download here:-
KLSE Monitor (JStock v0.9.9)

Compact version Download here:-
KLSE Monitor
.Net Framework (you may need to install this before using the compact version)

Transformers are coming to Singapore!

According to news report, some giant robots are heading for Singapore.

Universal Studios announced on Monday that a new theme-park ride based on the blockbuster movie last year - Transformers is being developed for the company.

The movie Transformers recorded a remarkable US$319,246,193 box office in the United States in 2007. The new rides, scheduled to debut in 2011, incorporate robotics and 3-D, high-definition technology with the help from Hasbro Inc. and DreamWorks Pictures. The director of the movie Transformers Michael Bay and producer Steven Spielberg will also consult on the development.

The ride, just like the movie, shows humans caught in an intergalactic war between armies of giant robots that can transform into cars, planes and many other technological creations.

One week review

Haloooooo! Yeap, I left Malaysia for some fresh air last week, by chance, and has literally come back to my arena just a few hours ago. I was sort of isolated without a computer out there and Malaysian news were virtually out of reach.

So, what actually happened last week? These are what I finally figured out:-
No demo version for Football Manager 2009;
No surprise from Pakatan Rakyat;
More Hong Kong corporates went bankrupt;
The dust settles on the MCA party polls, "best leading actor" Dr. Chua Soi Lek was elected as new deputy president and may get the chance to re-enter cabinet because of the BN tradition. Well, that only tells that moral is not an important issue at all to MCA members, shameless politicians;
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has qualified to stand for election as Umno president, while Ku Li's top post challenge appears to be yet another monkey show;
The ambitious Melaka CM Ali "the racist" Rustam seems not powerful enough to overcome the rebel Muhyiddin;
The UMNO supreme council met again tonight to discuss about party's image building while global financial crisis is causing massive impact to various markets;
Newly appointed Finance Minister Najib insists that Malaysia is not in financial crisis while Singapore has already slid into recession; and
Domestic Trade Minister Shahril didn't reduce national petrol retail price to RM1.92 when crude oil plunged below US$72, but only cut another 15 sen to current RM2.30...

That's it, life goes on. Nothing special but only the quiet Melaka streets this afternoon scares me. I've never seen this scene for as long as I can remember. Is it a sign of recession?

Petrol price to lower to RM1.92, if crude oil tumbles below US$72 a barrel

Domestic trade and consumer affairs minister Dato' Shahrir Abdul Samad said the government would further cut the local petrol price from current RM2.45 to RM1.92 per litre, if crude oil price dropped to US$72 a barrel. Our minister made this promise after oil prices closed at US$78.61 a barrel in New York on Friday.

The latest violent sell-off of crude oil also sees the prices hit a 13-month new low. Crude has fallen nearly 47% since soaring to record US$147.27 in July, 2008. The recent change reflects that the investors generally tend to be pessimistic about the global economic crisis which is widely believed to turn worse than the 1997/98's.

Will we see the price tagged as RM1.92 soon when we are standing at the pump? By then, will it be a good news or bad? This is a complicated question to think about. Maybe we should focus on our local political change first as parliament reopens on Monday. Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the media last night there would be spark in the parliament from Monday, just after 3,500 Penang MIC members crossed over to PKR. Let's keep a close eye on our country's future.

No sequel for the Dark Knight?

The Dark Knight is a superhero film directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the widely known DC Comics character Batman, the movie is a sequel to Batman Begins.

The movie was released in July, 2008. It was reportedly numbers of advance tickets were sold prior to its box office debut in the North America region. The Dark Knight became the second movie ever to earn more than US$500 million at the North American box office, hitting a massive cumulative of US$526,068,474 in the US alone. How popular this movie was.

There is no sequel for the Dark Knight yet, anyway. Co-writer David Goyer told media recently that there is no script so far and Christopher Nolan has yet to sign on to any new project. There have been rumours suggesting that Hollywood stars like Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman are set to play key roles in the Batman series but according to David Goyer, these are all plain rumours?

The fans are still looking forward to the next episode anyhow and would be interested in the installation of successor to the fantastic Heath Ledger who died before the release of the Dark Knight. Hopefully the crew would start filming in February, 2009 as reported earlier.

Microsoft to unveil Windows 7 to the world

What is Windows 7? Windows 7 is the next major version of the Windows client operating system. At this year's Professional Developers Conference (PDC2008) which will be held later this month in Los Angeles, Microsoft are to give multiple sessions to the attendees to get a look at Windows 7 in detail. It will also be the first public appearance of the successor to Windows Vista.

Windows 7 is expected to be officially released in the period of June 2009 to January 2010. The specific date is to be confirmed but Microsoft has announced earlier that the release date will ultimately be determined by meeting the quality bar.

Take a sneak peek at the new product by clicking the link to the video!
-> Windows 7 Official Video

Who will be Malaysia's sixth PM?

This afternoon Pak Lah made an important announcement to all the BN component parties at the BN council meeting. As expected, he told all the leaders that he had decided to step down as prime minister in five months time and he would not be contesting in the upcoming UMNO party poll.

This is not a surprising decision as he was repeatedly forced to quit by the UMNO supreme council before Hari Raya. Although Pak Lah denied that he was under pressure to compromise, most of the people know what is really going on in the battle of the party. Just like most of the people can tell the innocence and the devil apart from the cases of VK Lingam tape, Altantuya, Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial and Raja Petra Kamarudin's sedition trial. We are not idiots after all.

So Najib could be the next UMNO president and the next Malaysia PM, if Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat did not do something before March 2009. I don't see how Ku Li can be a threat to Najib, he would probably find himself living in his own dream at the end of the day. Anyway, Najib could become Malaysia's sixth PM to complete the R.A.H.M.A.N. chain but even if he came before Anwar, it does not mean that Anwar cannot topple down his government at a later time.

'I plan to complete my mission', quoted Pak Lah. 'There are several initiatives I intend to see through before I leave office. These initiatives are important because they are necessary to move our country forward.' I do hope that he keeps his words this time, though this is not the first time we hear him telling such intention. Pak Lah seemed relieved after the meeting today, big contrast to the mazed PM at the media conference before Raya. Will he really do something to save himself from the history book after putting down the burden?

FIFA president calls to rail against billionaire investors

Today Sepp Blatter called on European Union lawmakers to work with world football's governing body to draw up plans that would help tighten up regulations on club ownership to deal with the so-called "out of control" investment in football, particularly the English Premier League.

We have already seen super-rich investors like the Russian Roman Abramovich and the Abu Dhabi United Group buying out Chelsea FC and Manchester City. English football is too attractive for the investors from around the world because of its economic power. They always keep an eye on it and rumours of taking over of the English clubs never stop spreading on the media. Few months ago, Brittish media claimed that Belarus born Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska was interested in buying West Bromwich Albion. His reported wealth of £28 billion is even a match for Roman Abramovich. Anyway, the deal did not come true but who knows? Oleg Deripaska may come back anytime in the future.

Some fans may feel happy when being told that his club is taken over because they are looking for the cash injection to see some splendid achievements in the transfer market. In long term view, this can be a very bad phenomenon to football. Thus, Blatter's appeal is to restrict men with a lot of cash to make their profits and run. For example, the very recent case, former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sold Manchester City after a season and he reportedly gained a net profit of £30 million. While the current owner of Newcastle United Mike Ashley is also believed to settle for his shares for a price of £280 to £300 million soon which would leave him with a profit of £30 to £50 million from his 15 months in charge.

"I don't know how it can be stopped, but there is always a danger that these people will just one day leave. You get people turning up with banker's guarantees who are not interested in football and then they lose interest in the clubs and leave. What happens to the clubs then?", quoted the FIFA president. English Football Association chairman Lord Triesman today also waged war on English football's mounting debt, revealing that the game was a staggering £3 billion in the red and needed a radical review to stop it spiralling out of control. He also added that in 2006-2007, data identified over £950 million of debt in the top four clubs alone, with wages growing at 12% per year.

I agree with Blatter that there must be better control of football's finances, although he used to be a disgusting figure to me. It is not an easy job to rectify this problem of the football world but it is a must or otherwise there will be big financial difficulties for the English Clubs in the future.

The Eye on Malaysia to be relocated to Melaka... soon?

What is it? In case you have no idea how it looks like, just click on the images below to enlarge the beautiful wheel. The Eye on Malaysia is a 60 metres tall, the world largest portable ferris wheel first installed at Titiwangsa Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur. The wheel allows visitors to experience a 360-degree panoramic view of the city.

This astounding viewing wheel consists of 42 fully air-conditioned gondolas, including an exclusive VIP gondola that provides with plush leather seats fit for a king, a mini fridge, a DVD player, a plasma TV and a mobile telephone. There are also two specially designed gondolas, fitted with unique features making it friendly to the wheelchair-bound and handicapped visitors.

This giant wheel may be moved to Melaka soon and it could be permanent. If everything goes well, the ferris wheel will be dismantled, reassembled here in Melaka and relocated at the mouth of Melaka River in Taman Kota Laksamana. According to the chief minister, by then the existing Eye on Melaka(Malacca Eye) which is much smaller will still be in operation.

Click to give, charity for all

Guys, I would like to share some meaningful links which I visit regularly to you. You may visit them everyday and each and every click you make counts. Just one click, you're making the world different! Visit the links below to know more:-

The Animal Rescue Site - click to give free food and care
The Rainforest Site - click to protect endangered habitat
The Literacy Site - click to give free books
The Child Health Site - click to give free child healthcare
The Breast Cancer Site - click to give free mammograms
The Hunger Site - click to give free food

Japanese vending machines

Here's an email being forwarded around the Internet. I think the pictures attached have drawn attention of many because of the creativity and the fascinating display. If you have never seen these vending machines before, I pick some of them to show you here.

Selling umbrellas.

Selling rice.

Reverse vending. In other words, a recycling machine. Put your can in and get money back.

Selling ramen (noodle). Its display looks delicious, doesn't it?

Dry ice dispenser. Many supermarkets have this machine to help keep your frozen goods cold and fresh until you get home.

Kids' toys. We call it扭蛋机, can also be found in Malaysia, Singapore and especially in Taiwan.

Ever bought Haagen-Dazs from a vending machine?

Serving hot snack. I'm very interested in this one. Imagine having this in your place, you just walk out of your door and you can have fries, hotdogs and so on.

Selling flowers. Yet another good service, you can buy your loved ones some flowers anytime.

Providing fishing line, fish hooks and even bait.

Selling film and disposable cameras.

The coke machines look much nicer and innovative... and selling more variety?

Selling eggs.

...and this one, printing business cards. Sound cool?

In the 70's, there were already a lot of vending machines selling softdrinks and cigarettes in the Japanese streets. These machines can really make life easier. My friends gave me the same response after seeing these pictures, "Wow, how nice if we can have these in our place!" Well, I would be happy to see all of them here in Malaysia but then I'm starting to worry about "the safety" of the machines. Can our people treasure them like others do if they are put in the public? I believe our society is somewhat in need of the citizenship cultivation because some people don't even know the proper way to use the public phones.

My Pitstop Cafe (棋坊) -- Your new hang-out

Two days ago, I paid my second visit to this fantastic cafe located at Seri Kembangan, Selangor. This is the first ever board games cafe I know in Malaysia and it's co-ran by my fellow old friend, Ming Luen and his partners.

How is it different from thousand of cafes we used to visit? Not to mention the nice food and drinks they serve, like steak with home-made asam sauce, marmite chicken chop rice and various ice blended drinks, the theme of the concept is to provide youngsters with numerous interesting board games. These board games are not easily found in Malaysia, you won't see them in some bookstores or department stores but they are definitely some games you wouldn't want to miss. This I can assure you and this is why I purposely travelled 150km from Melaka to the cafe with my friends and we made this kind of one-day trip twice in four weeks time!

If you are planning for a meetup with your buddies or some new friends, I would suggest this beautiful place for you as it will bring you much fun and great interaction among players. You can find the map to get there by clicking here.

Yea, Selamat Hari Raya and Happy Holidays to all~ :D

Second petrol prices cut in 2 months, ok, what now?

In the afternoon of 24th September, 2008, the government announced that both petrol and diesel prices were cut by 10 sen to RM2.45 and RM2.40 per litre respectively effective from the following day.

As this was an expected decision and the slight cut was no surprise to all the Malaysians, I remember when I first heard of this news from the radio at my office that day, my client, my staff and I were like "Okay, so it's lowered."

It has been almost a week since the government made this "gift offer" for the Ramadan festive period to the residents. Somehow, this time it doesn't appear to be a widely welcome plan, this "candy magic trick" just doesn't work. Why? Well, this is actually understandable. Our petrol price was increased by a 40% margin from RM1.92 to RM2.704 in June 2008, and then cut by 15 sen and 10 sen to the current RM2.45. Immediate chain reactions like increase of electricity charges and commodities inflation already stunned the people and still we don't see the so-called "most people-friendly" budget. The government has yet to tell us how to overcome the scary inflation as it hits 27-year high of 8.5% in July 2008.

So, what does the government expect the people to react? Give them some clap? Nah, show us your determination to fight against corruption first. Stop putting our money in your own pockets, we are already sick of your promises, slogans and big projects because your plans only allow certain high post public servants to suck our money. What now? Show us real business.