叫N73太沉重 - N73, a synonym of heartache

The Nokia N73 is a smartphone described as a multimedia computer released by Nokia in year 2006. It was famous then but what is the point of talking about this old model now?

No, I do not mean to discuss about its functionality or design. I am just missing the one I used to carry since December 2006. I dropped it carelessly in a morning 5 months ago and the person who picked it up intended to possess it after he hung up my call twice. I do not hate him, really, but I do hope he buy what he likes next time.

I used to complain about N73's "birth defects" and its Symbian OS's stupid bugs but I still like it after all. My N73 Music Edition is not a perfect product, nevertheless it costed me RM2,214.

Since June, I have been using Motorola C139, a phone by the manufacturer I dislike most, which supports only phone call and sms. It does not even have an alarm clock or polyphonic ringtones. It forces me to rely on the kampung roosters' crow in the morning. Sound crazy, eh? It is true, anyway. "I think I am going to buy a new phone", this is what I have been telling my buddies but up to now I still cannot make up my mind. I told myself I would not go for an expensive one again, and because of that, I do not know which one to buy... haha!

Oh yeah, I actually found something which managed to prove the value of my current C139 today. The steps show you how to tell where your mobile phone is made :-

1stly, type *#06# and the international mobile equipment identity (imei) number appears,
2ndly, check the 7th and 8th numbers,
finally, if the 7th and 8th digits are 13, it means your phone was assembled in Azerbaijan which is Very Bad in quality and also dangerous to your health;
if the 7th and 8th digits are 02 or 20, it means your phone was assembled in China which has Low quality;
if the 7th and 8th digits are 08 or 80, it means your phone was manufactured in Germany which has Fair quality;
if the 7th and 8th digits are 01 or 10, it means your phone was manufactured in Finland which is Very Good in quality;
well, if the 7th and 8th digits are 00, it means your phone was manufactured in original factory which has The Best quality.

Okay, you are right. Mine belongs to the last category. Do not tell me if you find these steps are merely for fun. Thank you.

Time to plan for your next vacation? AirAsia removes fuel surcharge and offers free seats

Great news for those who always look for a budget trip! AirAsia today abolished fuel surcharges on all its flights and said it will give away half a million free tickets next year in an attempt to lure travelers amid the global slowdown.

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes said the region's biggest budget carrier will offer 500,000 free seats for travel between 22nd June and 24th October, 2009, on all its domestic and international destinations.

He said the recent steep drop in fuel prices has allowed AirAsia to adopt the bold strategy, adding that the loss of revenue should be offset by higher ticket sales, which will also be bolstered by new marketing strategies.

According to Fernandes, AirAsia is the first carrier in the world to abolish fuel surcharges, which became a standard industry practice a few years ago as oil prices rose on their way to peaking at nearly US$150 a barrel in mid-July. But since then, crude prices have tumbled because expectations that slower global growth will mean less demand. With the surcharges eliminated, travelers only need to pay for the airport tax and can also save the ticket charges if given free seats.

Fernandes said the move will boost Malaysia's economy as well as domestic and regional tourism by encouraging travel. This decision was also praised by Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad but Fernandes added that he could not guarantee that the surcharge would not be reimposed if oil prices surge again.

It would be a very good opportunity for those with spare money and those who plan to go on honeymoon next year to take the offer. I have taken the similar offer before. I know it is not so easy to "fight" for the free seats as the Website's traffic will be jammed by heavy load. You have to plan one year advance and must be very sure that you can be on leave a year later or else you forfeit your ticket and lose your payment for airport tax.

YouTube to post full-length films

Here is an exciting news. YouTube, the largest video-sharing website, will show full-length television shows and films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives in its latest step to boost advertising revenue by adding professional programing, the company representative said.

The site, owned by Google Inc, plans to make the announcement about the new partnership officially on Monday, US time.

MGM Studios will kick off the partnership by posting episodes of its decade-old "American Gladiators" program to YouTube on one channel.

On another channel, MGM will post full-length action films like Chow Yun-Fat's "Bulletproof Monk", "The Magnificent Seven" and clips from popular movies like "Legally Blonde." These will be free to watch, with ads running alongside the video.

YouTube in October forged a similar partnership with CBS Corp to run full-length archived shows, including the famous "Star Trek", "Young and the Restless" and the popular primetime television soap opera when I was in primary school "Beverly Hills 90210".

Many TV networks already run short clips on YouTube, which also offers millions of home videos uploaded by users.

But until now, YouTube videos were predominantly short clips of ten minutes or less. The company has been experimenting with full-length shows for some months with Time Warner Inc's HBO and CBS's Showtime cable networks.

Let's expect more surprises from the new partnerships in the near future.

Wedding dinners, the hosts, the guests and Ang Pows

It is true that I was invited to wedding dinner every month since September. There are more wedding dinners to attend in the coming weeks till end of December. These are indeed happy occasions and I actually feel honoured to be part of them as a guest, although it can also be a burden financially in a sense. Imagine if you, a Malaccan, are going to attend 3 or 4 dinners in certain month, and 2 of which are arranged in KL. Then you probably need to spend very very wisely in that particular month in order to cope with the daily expenses. Besides this issue, what are the things that you hear most from the people around you when it comes to wedding dinners?

Okay, for those who are given invitation cards, I believe many will say "I kena red bomb (红色炸弹) lar!" or even worse some may say "Tiok satu lagi saman!". I am sure that the friend who invites him would feel harsh and terrible.

For those who invite people to the dinners, at least I have by far heard of this so many times, the first thing that comes to the to-be-weds' mind would be "Eh! Can we make money from it ar?" or "How much can we gain from the dinner?". It is a woeful situation, isn't it? The wedding, the ceremony and the dinner are all our traditions but this thinking is not, right?

No matter if you are the old school type or the trendy, as long as you consider yourself as a Chinese, Ang Pow means a blessing to the couple and the wedding dinner is a celebration of the marriage. The host should invite with great sincerity and the guest should be honoured when he is attending the wedding dinner by invitation.

If we find that we are living in an unhealthy culture, each and everyone of us has the right and obligation to rectify it. The idea of making money from a wedding dinner is sick. I mean we can always look for an affordable venue and plan for a dinner within our budget. Whereas being a guest, we attend the dinner with an Ang Pow filled with great blessing and money within our capability. Isn't it nice if both parties go to the dinner with a sincere heart? We do not talk about money, the amount of the Ang Pow is not a concern or at least not the first thing we care about, and we all focus on the couple and the meaning of the dinner, the auspicious occassion.

Please do not forget the real meaning of Ang Pows (红包) or Red Packets. It is a blessing with money used as a gift from a friend, a relative or a family member.

跟朋友分享的一些觀點

在隨意閱讀了朋友小雪的部落格后，有感而發了一篇感想。特在此也給自己的部落格記錄一下。關于以文字抒發個人心情，內容如下：-

嗯。或許無論喜憂地把心情記錄下來，是一種抒發情感的方式；也像你所說的，可以降低罹患憂郁症的機率。不過從一些比較近期的心理學研究，也是我個人的角度切入的話，負面的心情文字要是記錄下來了，長遠來說它不一定是件好事。怎么說呢？

不管是以往那傳統的日記本或是當下這流行的部落格，我們在把文字記錄下來以后就很有可能在日后不止一次的反複閱讀。甚至曾有朋友告訴我說，她要複習悲傷。

事實上，帶著負面能量的負面情緒是可怕的。它可以在某種程度上阻礙我們的工作動力，同時也讓我們對未來的憧憬和期待失去信心，更甚者可能是對未來不抱任何興 趣。因此，負面情緒一旦產生，我們該做的是設法把它“趕走”，而不是暫時把它封存，三不五時就將其釋放出來。豈不虐待自己乎？

我認為，不開心的事 不值得記錄。當然這不代表我鼓勵大家當個報喜不報憂的人，這樣是把一股悶氣強迫壓製在心底。那股悶氣會讓我們呼吸作息不規律，俗稱”條氣不順“也。一旦” 爆炸“，更是會導致精神崩潰，糟糕之至！因此，我們可以在排除將其文字記錄后，再尋找其他有效途徑。而我個人小小的經驗和觀點是把不開心的、納悶的和煩心 的事統統都吐出來，然后再讓它隨風而去。所謂不吐不快，在適當的時候我們可以找個聽眾。他不需要是個懂得安慰人或是善于提供意見的朋友，他只要是個稱職的 聽眾就好。不開心的事都訴說出來之后，人自然地就會舒服許多。然后就重振心情，回到自己的生活當中繼續打拼並扮演好自己的角色。

曾有朋友在聽了我 的言論后問說，你不是學電腦的嗎？你不也浸泡在電腦網絡的世界十年了嗎？怎么你對目前最流行的部落格好像不很贊成？不然不然，我的建議是不記錄負面心情， 不好的情緒我們讓它逝去而無痕。人類的心情有千百種，成人的思緒變幻更是千千萬，我們又何必偏要記錄下會讓自己再度受傷的東西呢？

你要是問我，那現今科技可以如何幫助我們趕走負面情緒呢？那我想，嗯。。。就把當下不開心的事和想控訴的話寫在MSN即時通的狀態信息(status message)上吧！待換個心情之后，隨時可以將其抹去又不留痕跡，豈不好么？

Weekend movie - Man on Fire

Today I came online in the morning and glanced through the list of movies available on PPS (refer to earlier thread posted on this blog) and I finally found this, Man on fire.

Man on Fire is a 2004 American action drama thriller film about an ex-CIA operative (assassin?) who takes the job as a bodyguard and takes revenge on a Mexican kidnapping gang after they kidnap the child he was hired to protect. The film is a remake of the 1987 film of the same name, both based on the first of a series of books by author A. J. Quinnell, starring Denzel Washington the leading actor, Dakota Fanning the very beautiful little girl, Christopher Walken and Marc Anthony. The film actually received quite a number of negative reviews by the critics but was reportedly successful in commerce. This film drew US$23 million in its opening weekend and has grossed US$130,293,714 internationally, including a box office of US$77,894,965 in the United States in particular.

Why am I blogging about this film? I have to admit that I quite like this one, although I am not so into the revenge thing. Anyway, I think it has a nice plot and a mysterious and strange background to us as it was shot in the Mexico City. I am not saying that it is a perfect or Oscar-worthy movie but this heart-wrenching one is kind of a must-see. We have seen enough heroes killing all the bad guys and saving the hostage but this movie is somewhat different and that is what makes it special. The man in the movie is not a killing maniac. He is experienced but is not a superhero who kills everyone without getting a wound or even getting his shirt dirty. Kia Xin, a good friend of mine recommended this film to me quite some time ago, until today I finally got warmed and touched by the relationship of a man and a little 9 year-old beautiful girl.

Try it if you have not watched this. John Creasy will not fail you.

High court orders Raja Petra's release

The Shah Alam High Court this morning ruled that the detention of well-known blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin under the ISA (Internal Security Act) was illegal and ordered his immediate release. Raja Petra Kamaruddin, via his habeas corpus application has succeeded to obtain a release order from his ISA detention. The Court has allowed him to be brought to court for the release. He has been detained since 12 September 2008.

Shah Alam High Court Justice Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad ruled that the home minister acted outside his powers in having Raja Petra Kamaruddin arrested for allegedly causing racial tensions, said Raja Petra's lawyer, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.

"It's a historic ruling and definitely a wonderful step in terms of civil liberties in Malaysia," Malik Imtiaz said. He quoted the judge as saying the grounds given for Raja Petra's detention were insufficient and his arrest under the Internal Security Act was unlawful.

The Internal Security Act is a holdover from British colonial days, when it was used against communist insurgents. Independent Malaysia's postcolonial government, especially the Dr. Mahathir's government, has kept the act in the statute books and has used it sparingly against political dissidents, ignoring calls from opposition groups and others to disband the law.

Raja Petra's arrest triggered widespread protests by civil society groups, lawyers and other online commentators. Some of Malaysia's most popular blogs offer strong anti-government commentaries and present themselves as a substitute for mainstream media, which are controlled by political parties or closely linked to them.

Shall we expect more news or facts revealed on malaysiatoday.com from today?

会心一笑，烦恼忘掉 Jokes after work

After a hard day in the office today, I went online after shower, checked my mailboxes and read about 10 forwarded emails out of the 100 unread. I got an email from a "long lost" friend (not lost actually, we used to see each other hanging on MSN but we didn't chat for quite some time) telling me about jokes. In fact, that's just another ordinary email forwarded by YuXin but somehow, this one saved my day. What a relief in the evening!

Jokes are relaxing and can also be a fine break in our stressful life. It refreshed my mind when I felt exhausted and saved me from bad mood. Try it if you can read the following, it helps.

我们不是任何时候都需要放声大笑，因为大笑的人不见得当下的他一定乐开怀。如果你透过眼睛或耳朵传达了一些讯息到大脑，然后你的反应是会心的一笑，那么自然的、轻松的，发自心底的笑，哪怕并没有笑出声来，那一刻的你一定得到身心的放松。得到一种没有重力的愉快，一种能沁透心头的真快乐。。。

兔说：'我妈妈叫我小兔兔，好听！'
小猪说：'我妈妈叫我小猪猪，也好听！'
小狗说：'我妈妈叫我小狗狗，也很好听！'
小鸡说：'你们聊，我先走了！'

小兔说：'我是兔娘养的！'
小猪说：'我是猪娘养的！'
小鸡说：'我是鸡娘养的！'
小狗说：'你们聊，我先走了！'

浪客说：'人们叫我浪人，好听！'
武士说：'人们叫我武人，也好听！
高手说：'人们叫我高人，也很好听！'
剑客说：'你们聊，我先走了！'

李宗仁将军说：我这人，有仁！
傅作义将军说：我这人，有义！
左权将军说：我这人，有权！
霍去病将军说：你们聊，我先走了！


老张家的门是柳木做的，老张说：我家的门是木门！
老李家的门是塑料做的，老李说：我家的门是塑门！
老王家的门是砖头做的，老王说：我家的门是砖门！
老刘家的门是钢做的，老刘说：你们聊，我先走了！

师范学院的学生说：我是'师院'的！
铁道学院的学生说：我是'铁院'的！
职业学院的学生说：我是'职院'的！
技术学院的学生说：你们聊，我先走了！

１。题目：一边……一边……
小朋友写：他一边脱衣服，一边穿裤子。
老师批语：他到底是要脱还是要穿啊？

２。题目：其中
小朋友写：我的其中一只左脚受伤了。
老师批语：你是蜈蚣吗？

３。题目：陆陆续续
小朋友写：下班了，爸爸陆陆续续的回家了。
老师批语：你到底有几个爸爸呀？

４。题目：难过
小朋友写：我家门前有条水沟很难过。
老师批语：老师更难过。

５。题目：又 又
小朋友写：我的妈妈又矮又高又胖又瘦。
老师批语；你的妈妈是变形金钢吗？

６。题目：你看
小朋友写：你看什么看！没看过啊
老师批语：没看过

７。题目：欣欣向荣
小朋友写：欣欣向荣荣告白。
老师批语：连续剧不要看太多了！

８。题目：好吃
小朋友写：好吃个屁。
老师批语：有些东西是不能吃的。

９。题目：天真
小朋友写：今天真热。
老师批语：你真天真。

１０。题目：果然
小朋友写：昨天我吃水果，然后喝凉水。
老师批语：是词组，不能分开的。

１１。题目：先……再……，例题：先吃饭，再冼澡。
小朋友写：先生，再见！
老师批语：想像力超过了地球人的智慧。

１２。题目：况且
小朋友写：一列火车经过，况且况且况且况且况且况
老师批语：我死了算了。。。

Employee's contribution to EPF to reduce by 3% as RM7billion stimulus package unveiled

The government today announced an economic package to reinforce the economy, strengthen national resilience and to maintain economic growth momentum to face the increasingly challenging global economic climate. Finance Minister Dato' Seri Najib Razak said that the government would inject RM7 billion to strengthen the economy and boost confidence within the private sector as the country's projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth for year 2009 was lowered from 5.4% to 3.5%.

Among the measures Najib announced were :-
1) RM1.2bil to be allocated to build more low- and medium-cost houses;
2) Abolishing the 5% import duties on fertilisers, cement and steel;
3) Allowing hypermarkets to close late (weekdays 11pm; weekends 1am);
4) RM500mil for the maintenance of police stations and quarters, as well as Army camps;
5) RM200mil for Chinese, Tamil, religious and mission schools;
6) RM200mil for pre-school education; and
7) Employees can reduce their EPF contributions by 3% on a voluntary basis for up to two years.

The EPF contributions by employees will be adjusted from current 11% to 8% with effect from January 2009, on a voluntary basis. Just like the step the government took in 2003 but this time the statutory rate is lowered by 3% instead of 2% and for a period of two years instead of one. The employers’ portion of the monthly contributions to the EPF remains at 12%.

Why doing do? This measure is to give our people more cash in hand and spend in the market, although the 3% is not much to many. Now that it is optional, which way do you prefer? Save it in your EPF account or hold it in hand? Every sign is telling that we are going to face hard times, aren't we?

Football Manager 2009 demo available now!

The long awaited managerial computer game is finally available for download today... oops, just the demo, sorry! Hehe...

Just like the last few years, Sports Interactive provides two different versions of the demo available for PC and MAC, a 'strawberry' and 'vanilla' version, with both providing half a season of gameplay. The saved games from the demo will be compatible with the full release of the game. The vanilla version features only the English and Scottish leagues, with no player photos or logos in order to reduce the size of the download, whereas the strawberry version includes all player pictures and logos, with quickstarts for the world's biggest leagues, giving players a chance to try out their skills in leagues from multiple countries including England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Australia and Indonesia. No Malaysia? A bit disappointed but understandable. Okay, let's get started now.












Download Vanilla version
for Windows (175MB) for Mac (140MB)

Download Strawberry version
for Windows (1,004MB) for Mac (977MB)
(very much bigger in size compared to previous demos)

重点推介PPS网络电视 (online TV)

这是一套非介绍不可的的软件，它结合了几种电脑可提供的娱乐于一体，而其中最重要的功能当然就是网络电视了！大家看到这里恐怕还有个疑问，不过不用担心，我知道你们在想什么。既然我会在这里特别介绍，没错，它当然也是免费的！

为什么要选用PPS呢？因为PSP是一款利用Peer-to-Peer(P2P)技术的直播软件，因此凡是宽频用户都能够得到流场的视频画面。P2P的特点就是越多人同时使用，就越能达到理想的效果。其原理就跟大家比较熟悉的BitTorrent一样，多用户等于多资源，多资源也就流通快。因此每一个用户在下载画面的同时，其实也是在为其他用户供给资源。换句话说，PPS的用户越多，其播放也就越是稳定。

PPS除了提供多套高画质的新旧中外电影、港台日韩连续剧、体育节目、综艺节目、日本漫画卡通、动画电影和财经专栏外，它还有热门体育赛事的直播，包括NBA、英超、意甲、西甲、欧冠、NBL、F1和9号Pool等等，反正就是多不胜数就对了。除此之外，你若是用它来播放歌曲档案的话，它还会自动从网上替你找寻歌词还有相关歌手的资料呢！

好啦！说了那么多，重要的还是要提供软件的下载网址才行。大家慢慢享受吧！
*注：天下真有白吃的午餐？先不管啦！至少当下有得看就要快。。。

Download PPS

Windows XP SP2用户特别补丁
Patch for WinXP SP2 user

It is sad to tell that PPS is developed by a Chinese company and there is no English Version available for the time being. If you cannot read Chinese, you may still use it with some help from your friends, or else just simply click on the navigation panel on your left hand side, I am sure that you can still get some show played. Oh yeah, what is PPS by the way? It is an online streaming TV using P2P concept and the best part of it is... yeah, it is FREE! Oh well, at least for the time being, who knows?

I have watched plenty of movies like Casino Royale, Con Air, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Godfather, Mummies 3, Bangkok Dangerous, Kungfu Panda, National Treasure, Stephen Chow's series, Jackie Chan's series and also drama series like Prison Break, Hero, CSI, Lost and etc. Besides, you can also watch football matches, F1, NBA, Pool and Snooker live. All you need is a computer with broadband services. Good luck, mates!