My experience sharing of using Intel Optane technology accelerated hard disk

Recently I have purchased a Dell XPS 8930 desktop computer which comes with an ordinary 1 TB SATA hard disk, paired with a 16GB Intel Optane memory card.

As advertised by Intel, "the Intel Optane memory is a smart, adaptable system accelerator for PCs with at least a 7th Generation Intel Core processor and a hard disk drive. It provides uncompromising system responsiveness for large capacity storage drives, making everything you do fast, smooth and easy."

Intel has put up a short video to explain what is Optane memory about and how its Smart System Acceleration works, as below:

The main purpose of this Optane memory is to boost up the performance of ordinary SATA hard disk, which capacity is generally much higher than SSD and price is much more cheaper than SSD, so that the data access time of the Intel Optane accelerated hard disk can be comparably as fast as SSD.

I have this Dell XPS 8930 desktop with 1 TB Optane accelerated hard disk as its storage, running on Intel Core i5-8400 CPU and 8 GB memory. I also have a Dell Inspiron 5370 laptop with 256 GB SSD as its storage, running on Intel Core i7-8550U CPU and 8 GB memory. Both of them are running on MS Windows 10 operating system.

In my personal experience of using this desktop with Optane accelerated SATA hard disk which has storage capacity 4 times larger than my laptop, its boot up time is almost instantaneous and faster than my laptop. This is really amazing.

Well, to be fair, the Intel i5-8400 Coffee Lake processor in my desktop with 6 cores 6 threads processing power, is having a higher performance benchmark than the Intel i7-8550U Kabe Lake R processor in my laptop with 4 cores 8 threads processing power. This would probably explain why the desktop boot up time is faster than the laptop. However, without the acceleration of Optane memory, its boot up time with SATA hard disk will be much more slower.

As for the loading speed of applications in the desktop, and the speed of opening data files, it depends on whether they have already been cached in the Optane memory or not. I can feel that their loading speed is about the same with loading from SSD when they are cached, and is as slow as loading from SATA hard disk when they are not cached.

There is no mechanism for me to control which piece of data to be cached and which not to be cached. It is automatically determined by the Optane memory card itself. I can tell from experience that those frequently used one will stay in the cache and load up pretty fast.

Intel provides 2 options of Optane memory capacity, one is 16 GB and another is 32 GB. I think the 32 GB one is of better pick as it has double the caching capacity. However, the Dell XPS 8930 selling in Malaysia does not provide option for buyer to opt for 32 GB Optane memory, as only 16 GB Optane is available.

All in all, I am happy with the performance of this Intel Optane memory in my desktop computer. The only drawback is that current Intel Optane technology does not support RAID storage. It can only work with raw SATA hard disk.

I haven't have experience in using SSHD hybrid hard disk. Perhaps the experience is similar. I am also wondering what makes the different of using Optane memory with SATA hard disk from using SSHD.

How to determine a good car window tint film from TSER, UVR and VLT values?

The performance of car window tint film is generally determined by these 3 values:

• TSER - Total Solar Energy Rejected. This is the overall solar energy filtered by the film. The higher the TSER, the more heat from sun is blocked from entering into your car through its windscreens and windows.
• UVR - Ultraviolet Rejection. Ultraviolet rays can cause colour fading in upholstery and furnishings. It can also cause skin damage and skin cancer.
• VLT - Visible Light Transmission. This is determined by the darkness of the film. The darker the film, the lower its VLT will be. Note that JPJ has regulation for the minimum amount of VLT allowed for the tint film, so the VLT need to be equal or above the permitted value to abide to the regulation imposed. As VLT contributes quite a large portion of TSER, it will affect the TSER value pretty significantly.

Traditionally, many tint shops tend to use IRR (infra-red rejection) as an indicator, but the infra-red wavelength spectrum is very long and there is no standard of how much of the spectrum to be used to measure IRR, some products claim to have high IRR by measuring only a short portion of it right after the visible light spectrum, which does not have much meaning for the real heat rejection performance measurement. Therefore, unless the wavelength spectrum of IRR is clearly specified and the measurement is until 2,500 nm or more, otherwise this value can be neglected as TSER can provide a more meaningful value for consideration.

So, how to determine a tint film is good, moderate or poor, based on its TSER, UVR and VLT values?

First we look at VLT value, as it's minimum requirement is regulated in Malaysia. A good VLT value should be as low as possible (so that the TSER value will also be lower) but should not go below the JPJ standard. Otherwise, the enforcement officer may ask you to remove your tints from your windows due to violation of this regulation.

The minimum allowed VLT currently imposed by JPJ is as follow:

• Front windscreen: 70%
• Front side windows: 50%
• Rear side windows: 30%
• Rear windscreen: 30%

The MS2669:2017 standard has set the requirements for tint film for the following 3 tests:

• Solar test: VLT, UVT (opposite of UVR) and TSET (opposite of TSER).
• Weathering test: TSET/TSER value should be stable for a period of 5 years with less than 4% degradation. This is simulated with 1,000 hours shining from solar mercury lamp.
• Boil test: the tint film should not form bubbles under high temperature.

With reference to this MS2669:2017 standard, we can then determine the range of TSER and UVR which is considered to be good, moderate or marginal only.

TSER:

• Good: > 50%
• Moderate: 39% - 49.99%
• Marginal: 25% - 38.99%
• Failed: below 25%

UVR:

• Good: > 99.5%
• Moderate: 98.5% - 99.49%
• Marginal: 98% - 98.49%
• Failed: below 98%

Therefore, if you are looking for a good car window tint firm, you can look for those that meet the following realistic requirements:

• TSER: 56% - 62%
• UVR: 99.5% - 99.9%
• Front windscreen VLT: 70% - 75%
• Front side windows VLT: 50% - 60%
• Rear side windows VLT: 30% - 50%
• Rear windscreen VLT: 30% - 50%

My Remax CR-3XP Alien series 1-to-5 smart car charger

With more and more electronic gadgets such as air sterilizer, dashcam, GPS, etc. in the car, couple with the occasional need to recharge my phone and/or tablet while driving, the available charging sockets in my car is not sufficient to provide power to so much devices at the same time.

My solution is to have the Remax CR-3XP Alien series 1-to-5 smart car charger that can extend one car charging socket into 2 charging sockets with independent switch and 3 USB charging ports with combined power output of up to 3.4A.

This Remax CR-3XP smart car charger is designed to sit nicely in the car cup holder. It has 2 colour options: black+gold and white. The black+gold one looks nicer and is pretty hot selling, easily got sold out in the online shops.

This Remax CR-3XP smart car charger has an LED display, which will show the car battery voltage when its 3 USB charging ports are not in used. When either one or more of its USB ports is charging some gadget, the LED display will show the charging amperage.

The photo below shows my Remax CR-3XP smart car charger in action, sitting nicely in one of the car cup holders, with one of its charging sockets connected to my MedKlinn Autoplus air sterilizer.

You can notice that there are 2 buttons beside the LED display, one on its right and another on its left, which can be used to switch on/off the power supply to its 2 charging sockets respectively.

Converting video files to be playable from USB drive in Honda 39102-T9A-T8XX-M1 display audio head unit

The Honda 39102-T9A-T8XX-M1 display audio is the stock head unit of Honda City 2017 Facelift 1.5L E/V variants.

It is able to play 4 types of multimedia files in a USB thumb drive: MP3 music, WMA music, JPEG photo, and MP4 video.

When the car parking handbrake is engaged, the video will display on the screen, otherwise, the video will become a blue screen while the music in the MP4 continue playing. This is a safety feature so that the driver will focus on driving instead of watching video on the screen. If you want to bypass this safety feature, you can search for a compatible "bypass cable" for this head unit and install it.

In order for any video to be playable in this Honda 39102-T9A-T8XX-M1 head unit, you need to convert it into MP4 format with the following custom settings:

• Frame size: 640 x 480
• Adjustment: Original
• Video codec: MPEG4
• Frame rate: 15 fps
• Bitrate type: Auto
• Audio codec: MP3
• Channels: Stereo
• Sample rate: 48000 Hz
• Audio Bitrate: 320 Kbps

Conversion can be done using a free software called Freemake Video Converter.

Although the car audio manual claimed that it is able to play video in H.264 Base Line Profile format, I have not succeed to make it work with any H.264 video.

The car audio manual also claimed that it is able to support video frame rate up to 30 fps, but if you set the fps higher than 15, the video might not be playing smoothly on the screen.

As the car audio manual has stated that it supports VGA size video only, the frame size is best to be 640x480. If you set it higher than that, the video will be totally unplayable with the "not supported resolution type" error.

Luckily, this head unit is capable to play MP3 in pretty high sample rate and bitrate. Its music playing capability is quite OK, particularly with the 8 speakers in the V variant, despite its video playing capability is really primitive.

EPF declared 6.9% (conventional) / 6.4% (shariah) dividend for 2017

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend rate for financial year 2017.

If you still remember, earlier on, EPF has launched its Simpanan Shariah Islamic saving account beside its conventional saving account. Members can apply to switch their account type from conventional to Shariah at their own will.

Year 2017 was the first year of dividend declaration for Shariah account, while dividend for conventional account has been declared annually since 1952.

For year 2017, the dividend declared for conventional account is 6.9% while for Shariah account is 6.4%. The dividend has already credited into members' account, and you can check for it by login into your EPF i-Account.

The 6.9% dividend for EPF conventional account in 2017 is 21% higher than the 5.7%  dividend declared for 2016 (last year).

Calculation: (6.90-5.70)/5.70 = 1.20/5.70 = 21%

It is also 7.8% higher than the 6.4% Shariah dividend declared for the same year.

Calculation: (6.90-6.40)/6.40 = 0.50/6.40 = 7.8%

It seems that members who had opted to convert their account to Shariah might be upset and regret, due to the lower dividend in 2017.

According to EPF, the Shariah account derived its income solely from its portion of shariah assets while for conventional account, a total of 38% of the income was generated by its share of Shariah assets and 62% from non-Shariah assets.

The returns for conventional account were enhanced by the income generated from non-shariah investments following the outperformance of global banking stocks, while Shariah account does not include conventional banking stocks due to their non-Shariah compliant status.

In addition, equity impairments from shariah-compliant stocks, particularly the oil and gas, and telecommunication counters, has lowered the income of the EPF's shariah portfolio.

Is the 6.9%/6.4% dividend considered good or not? The 6.9% dividend rate is the best since year 1996. However, EPF had been consistently declaring dividends of above 7% from 1976 until 1996! The dividend rate had even been consistently above 8% during 1980-1994. So, you judge yourself!

You can click here to check the historical EPF dividend pay-out rates from 1952 until today to have a clearer picture.

Send e-Angpow with Presto and get back more cash than the amount you sent

Presto is an innovative homegrown social marketing and e-wallet platform by ACE-market listed PUC Bhd (0007). You can download the app for free in Google Play store and Apple iTune App Store.

In conjunction with the upcoming Chinese New Year 2018, Presto has enabled its users to send electronic red packets (a.k.a. e-Angpow) to their buddies in the app. The good news is, you do not need to top up any money into your Presto account to start sending your red packets.

Click here, and you can receive RM2 from Presto in your account after filling up the online form as shown below. Both new users and existing users are eligible to receive the RM2, provided you are the first 88 users of the day who submitted the online form, from 7 February 2018 until 13 February 2018.

Once you have received the RM2 in your Presto account, you can use it to send out red packet to one of your buddies. Just tap on the banner as shown below at the bottom of the app screen to start sending your red packets.

Alternatively, you can select a friend in your buddies list and there is an option for you to send red packet to the selected person too.

You can send any amount of money in your red packet, but please be noted that you need to send RM2 or more in a red packet in order to be eligible to play the Fortune Blast game.

The secret to get back more cash than the amount you sent is through this Fortune Blast game! If you sent out an RM2 red packet and it is opened by its receiver, you can easily get back at least RM5 from Fortune Blast.

If you are fast enough to blast more than 100 times within 8 seconds, your prize can be doubled to become RM10!

With the money you won from Fortune Blast, you can continue to send out more red packets to the rest of your buddies, and receive more chances to earn back even more money from Fortune Blast.

You can easily earn more than hundred within a very short period of time, even without any need of putting any money into your Presto account to start with. There is just nothing for you to lose, and many for you to gain.

In the end of the day, what can you do with the money in your Presto account? Currently, you can use it to redeem Presto deals. Later on, the money will be resided in your Presto e-wallet, which you can use to make payment at participating shops that accept Presto e-wallet payment method.

Click the link below to share this message to as many of your friends as possible, because you need them to also install Presto app in their phone before you can add them as your buddy and send/receive red packets with them.

PTPTN announced 2017 dividend for SSPN-i and SSPN-i Plus (now SSPN1M)

The Malaysia National Higher Education Fund (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional, PTPTN) has just announced dividend for year 2017 for the education savings schemes SSPN-i (Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional) and SSPN-i Plus (now both of them combined and known as SSPN1M) on 30 January 2018.

The 2017 SSPN1M dividend payout rate is 4%, amounting to RM92.56 million. This rate is the same as previous payout for 2015 and 2016.

 In 2017, the amount of deposits in  SSPN1M was RM727.40 million, surpassing the original target of RM550 million, with 447,039 new accounts opened by depositors.

According to PTPTN, the number of SSPN1M accounts opened to date is 3.2 million, with deposits amounting to about RM3.3 billion.

Historical SSPN-i dividend payout rate is as below:

• 2017: 4.00%
• 2016: 4.00%
• 2015: 4.00%
• 2014: 4.25%
• 2013: 4.25%
• 2012: 4.25%
• 2011: 3.75%
• 2010: 3.25%
• 2009: 2.50%
• 2008: 4.00%
• 2007: 4.00%
• 2006: 4.00%
• 2005: 4.00%
• 2004: 3.00%

You can proceed to the Online SSPN-i Statement of Account website for checking of the transactions and amount of savings in your kid's SSPN1M account.

FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 soccer match schedule

The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is near the corner now!

It will start on 14 June 2018 and last for one month until 15 July 2018.

You can look up to the schedule of all its matches in this website:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/index.html
You can also click here to download the match schedule in PDF file.

The time shown on the webpage is Russia local time. Just click on "change to your time" to switch it to your local time. Remember to adjust the date yourself because the date shown on the webpage will remain as the date in Russia as well.

The first match will be Russia vs Saudi Arabia at 14 June 2018 6pm.

You might also be interested to read about:

• The historical relationship between FIFA World Cup and stock market performance

Bank Negara increased OPR to 3.25%

As expected, Bank Negara (BNM) has, at its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting today (25 January 2018), made the decision to increase the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by 25 basis points from 3% to 3.25%.

This is the reverse of the last action taken on 13 July 2016, which reduced the OPR by 25 basis points from 3.25% to 3%.

For investors, if you are holding shares of financial institutions, this is a short term good news to you. If you are holding shares which the company is having high debt/equity (D/E) ratio, you need to evaluate how much will this OPR rise impact on the company's financial situation.

If you are planning to take a hire purchase (eg. buying a vehicle), act fast before the borrowing interest rate increases soon. If you are serving a home loan, expect your monthly commitment to your mortgage to slightly increase from now on.

You might probably also be interested to read about:

• How the OPR can affect the economic climate

Book: Algorithms Notes for Professionals

An algorithm is a procedure or formula for solving a problem, based on conducting a sequence of specified actions.

Algorithm plays an important role in software engineering. It is one of the major subjects compulsory for students studying computer science, computer engineering or similar IT course in university/college.

Algorithms Notes for Professionals is a freely downloadable PDF e-book compiled from Stack Overflow Documentation, released under Creative Common BY-SA.

Among the algorithms discussed in this e-book are:

• Graph
• Graph Traversals
• Dijkstra’s Algorithm
• A* Pathfinding
• Dynamic Programming
• Kruskal's Algorithm
• Greedy Algorithms
• Prim's Algorithm
• Bellman–Ford Algorithm
• Line Algorithm
• Floyd-Warshall Algorithm
• Catalan Number Algorithm
• polynomial-time bounded algorithm for Minimum Vertex Cover
• Multithreaded Algorithms
• Knuth Morris Pratt (KMP) Algorithm
• Edit Distance Dynamic Algorithm
• Online algorithms
• Big-O Notation
• Sorting
• Bubble Sort
• Merge Sort
• Insertion Sort
• Bucket Sort
• Quicksort
• Counting Sort
• Heap Sort
• Cycle Sort
• Odd-Even Sort
• Selection Sort
• Trees
• Binary Search Trees
• Binary Tree traversals
• Lowest common ancestor of a Binary Tree
• Searching
• Substring Search
• Breadth-First Search
• Depth First Search
• Hash Functions
• Travelling Salesman
• Knapsack Problem
• Matrix Exponentiation
• Equation Solving
• Longest Common Subsequence
• Longest Increasing Subsequence
• Dynamic Time Warping
• Pascal's Triangle
• Fast Fourier Transform
• Algo:- Print a m*n matrix in square wise
• Check two strings are anagrams
• Dynamic Programming

It is a very handy reference book for software engineers and computer science students.

Click here to download Algorithms Notes for Professionals for free.

How to apply for MyDeposit to get government to pay for deposit of your 1st home

If you are a Malaysian who plans to buy the first home in your lifetime, you ought to act quickly to apply for the MyDeposit Scheme so that the government will pay for the 10% deposit of your first home for the amount up to RM30,000. As long as the terms and conditions are met, you need not repay back this money to the government.

This will definitely able to help you to save a substantial amount of money to own your first home.

Application for MyDeposit Scheme has already been opened since 15 December 2017 and will be closed on 15 February 2018.

Among the terms and conditions for this MyDeposit Scheme are:

• You must be a Malaysia citizen.
• Application can be made as a household (husband and wife) or as an individual for unmarried persons.
• It must be for the first home in your lifetime. For husband and wife, both of them cannot own any home under their name before or during the application.
• Age of applicant must be 21 years old and above.
• The applicant must be earning a monthly income (in order to be eligible to buy a home), and the household monthly income must between RM3,000 to RM15,000.
• You must have a clean CCRIS record.
• The home to be bought must be from a new housing development project. It is NOT applicable to buying of subsale home, building house on a land with own contractor, PR1MA, PPA1M, RUMAWIP, PPR, MyHome and any Rumah Mampu Milik.
• The price of the home (as stated in S&P document) must not exceed RM500,000.
• You have not signed the S&P of the home before getting approval of your MyDeposit application.
• You must sign the S&P with your developer within 30 days after getting approval for your MyDeposit.
• The approved amount of money will be paid directly to your developer.
• You cannot rent out the home under this scheme. It must be for your own family stay only.
• You cannot sell the home within 10 years from the date of S&P.

Under normal situation, you are not required to return your approved MyDeposit money to the government. However, you will need to return it to the government under the following condition:

• You are not able to fulfil the home loan instalment and the home is put on bank auction.

To apply for this MyDeposit Scheme, you need to register an online account in SPRN website and follow the instruction from there.

Click here for more information about this MyDeposit Scheme.

Good luck!

RM500 matching grant (GS500) to be given free to SSPN new deposit in 2018 for primary school beneficiaries

On top of the recent good news about SSPN-I tax relief of RM6000 max has been extended until year 2020, the National Education Savings Scheme (Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional, SSPN-i) setup by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional, PTPTN) for the purpose of higher education has on 2 January 2018 announced another good news for all existing and new SSPN depositors whose beneficiary is studying in primary school.

The good news is...

The government has allocated a fund for the first 500,000 existing and new SSPN depositors who deposited at least RM500 new fund into their account during 2018, whose beneficiary is studying in primary school. These accounts will received a free matching grant incentive of RM500 in their SSPN account (Insentif Geran Sepadan Percuma RM500 a.k.a. GS500).

 

The terms and conditions are for this GS500 are as follow:

• This RM500 free matching grant incentive is only allocated to 500,000 eligible SSPN accounts on and first come first serve basis.
• The age of the beneficiary of the SSPN account is between 7 to 12 years old or is studying in primary school in Malaysia.
• New fund of RM500 must be deposited into the SSPN account between 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018 (deposit - withdrawal >= RM500).
• This RM500 free matching grant incentive can only be withdrawn after the beneficiary has reached the age of 18 years old, or during closure of account due to either the depositor or beneficiary has passed away.
• This RM500 free matching grant incentive cannot be used for tax relief.
• This RM500 free matching grant incentive will be automatically given to the eligible SSPN accounts. There is no form to be filled up.

Fund can be deposited into existing SSPN account using FPX real-time online payment after login into the online SSPN-I Statement of Account website.

Source of reference:

• Simpanan RM500 Percuma, RM500 Untuk 500,000 Pelajar

 

 

PayNet Instant Transfer fee for individual and SME to be zerorized by 1 July 2018

I remember that during early December 2017, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) had announced a fee waiver of 53 sen (with GST) of PayNet Instant Transfer fee to be effective in 2018. PayNet is a merged entity of MyClear and MEPS.

Now we have already reached the year 2018, but when I checked on the banks' online transfer function, the 53 sen Instant Transfer fee (with GST) is still there. Am I missing something?

Yes! The effective date of this Instant Transfer fee waiver is on 1 July 2018, so there are a few more months to go.

In addition, I have found out that there are conditions for this Instant Transfer fee waiver as below:

• Only bank account belonged to individual and SME can enjoy the fee waiver. The waiver is not applicable to bank account of big corporations.
• To enjoy the fee waiver, the maximum amount of money in the transaction should limited to RM5,000 only. If you want to transfer more than that using Instant Transfer, and yet want to enjoy the fee waiver, perhaps can break the amount down and perform multiple transfers, with each transaction not exceeding RM5,000.

My SUM 0026 digital programmable timer 3-pin plug socket

Electrical programmable timer plug socket is very useful for you to automate the time to turn off a particular electrical/electronic appliance, and the time to turn it on again.

Some of its usage scenario including:

• Switching off your WiFi at mid-night and switching it on again in early morning.
• Switching off your television and set-top-box at mid-night and switching them on again the next morning.
• Switching on water sprinkler system in your garden at certain hour everyday, and switching it off again after some times.
• Switching on night lights at night and switching them off during day time.
• Charge the BC-01 multimedia Bluetooth speaker with alarm clock and FM radio for 2 hours everyday.

Typically, there are 2 types of electrical programmable timer plug socket: mechanical and digital. Mechanical programmable timer is usually cheaper, but has limitation of 24 hours single setting only. Digital programmable timer such as this SUM 0026 supports 7-days on/off setting and can accommodate up to 10 different on/off settings.

This SUM 0026 digital programmable timer 3-pin plug socket is certified by SIRIM with a SIRIM sticker.

It has an internal NiMH 1.2V battery which is able to remember its clock time and settings for more than 100 hours even when their is no power supplied to the unit.

Before you can use it for the first time after unpack, you need to plug it in an electrical socket and charge its internal battery for about half a day. Initially, you might see its LCD display showing distorted characters. That is normal. After some times, the unit will function well with the correct info display.

After that, you need to reset its memory by pressing the small round Master Clear button with a sharp object for a few seconds, then release it.

Then, you need to set its clock time:

• Press and hold the Clock button.
• With Clock button pressed, press the Week button again and again until current day is shown.
• Continue the same step with the Hour button and Minute button.
• With Clock button pressed, press the Timer button to toggle between 12 hour and 24 hour clock mode.

To set a timer setting:

• Press and release the Timer button. The LCD will show ON_1 for the "switch on" time for 1st set of setting.
• Press the Week button again and again to set the day or block of days for timer on.
• Repeat the same to set for Hour and Minute.
• Press and release the Timer button. The LCD will now show OFF_1 for the "switch off" time for 1st set of setting.
• Set the timer off settings for Week, Hour and Minute respectively.
• Note: timer on can be either earlier or later than timer off.
• Press the Clock button to exit from timer setting mode.

To use the timer function, you need to press the On/Auto/Off button until you see Auto displayed on the screen. When it is in On position, device plugged into it will always turned on; when it is in Off position, device plugged into it will always turned off.

There is a Random button, which will randomly pick a time between 6pm and 6am.

Note that this SUM 0026 digital programmable timer 3-pin plug socket has a maximum load of 13A and 3.12 kW.

Blackmores Multivitamins plus Minerals tablets as gift and also for self consume

During this multiple-festive season of year-end, Christmas and new year, if you are wondering about what to give as gift to relatives and friends, perhaps you can consider health supplement such as Blackmores Multivitamins plus Minerals tablets.

Blackmores is named after its Australian founder Maurice Blackmore (1906-1977). The company (ASX:BKL) is public listed in Australia Stock Exchange since 1985. They are passionate about natural health and inspiring people to take control of and invest in well-being.

Blackmores Multivitamins plus Minerals tablet contains essential vitamins and minerals to provide your body and mind with all-round nutritional support and help maintain health every day. It helps supplement an unbalanced diet in one-a-day dose. Its active ingredient includes:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B3
• Vitamin B5
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D3
• Vitamin E
• Calcium
• Choline bitartrate
• Iron
• Folic acid
• Inositol
• Manganese
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Zinc
• Biotin

Daily supplementation with a broad range of vitamins and minerals can provide "nutritional insurance" by helping to provide an optimum intake for the maintenance of good health. A Harvard review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2002 recommended that all adults should take a multivitamin daily. Statistics suggest that many people are not consuming optimal amounts of vitamins in their diets. Low levels of vitamins can contribute to the development of a range of conditions.

The most cost effective Blackmores Multivitamins plus Minerals is the gift pack as below, which consists of 1 bottle of 120 tablets, 1 bottle of 60 tablets, and 1 bottle of 30 tablets. Altogether there are 210 tablets in one pack. The price I bought is RM78.90, which is 37.57 sen per tablet.

The shelf life of this product is 3 years. Its manufacturing date and expiry date is printed on its label.

This product is formulated for adults to take one tablet per day. For children under 12 years old, there is another product called Blackmores Kids Multivitamins plus Minerals.

Blackmores Kids Multivitamins plus Minerals has the following active ingredient:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin B5
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D3
• Vitamin E
• Equiv. Thiamine
• Nicotinamide
• Folic Acid
• Biotin
• Calcium
• Iodine
• Magnesium
• Manganese
• Zinc

Blackmores Kids Multivitamins plus Minerals tablets are chewable with strawberry vanilla flavour with no artificial sweeteners, and not to be swallowed as whole.

This product is formulated for children of age 2-6 years to take 1 tablet per day, and for children of age 7-12 years to take 2 tablets per day.

The most cost effective Blackmores Kids Multivitamins plus Minerals is the twin pack as below, which consists of 2 bottles of 60 tablets each. Altogether there are 120 tablets in one pack. The price I bought is RM51.95, which is 43.29 sen per tablet.

The genuine products will have a Ministry of Health (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, KKM) hologram sticker with a unique serial number for each bottle.

For the Muslim, this product is certified Halal by the Al-Iman Islamic Society Inc. of Australia as shown in the logo on its label.

SSPN-i tax relief of RM6000 max has been extended until year 2020

You might be awared that the National Education Savings Scheme (Skim Simpanan Pendidikan Nasional, SSPN-i) setup by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional, PTPTN) for the purpose of higher education is able to provide you personal income tax saving, which is one of the good personal finance means for resident individuals to reduce their payable income tax.

The maximum amount of personal income tax relief for new saving deposits placed in SSPN-i for the benefit of your children during each year of assessment is RM3,000. This mean if your children's SSPN-i account is deposited with RM3,000 additional savings (new deposit - withdrawal = RM3,000) in the year, you can deduct your taxable income for the year by the same amount of RM3,000.

If the additional savings during the year is less than RM3,000, you can deduct your taxable income for the year by the same amount, which is less than RM3,000.

If the additional savings during the year is more than RM3,000, you can deduct your taxable income for the year by RM3,000 only, as RM3,000 is the maximum.

However, National Budget 2013 had announced that this maximum amount of SSPN-i tax relief be doubled to RM6,000 for a period of 6 years from assessment year 2012 until 2017. The maximum amount will fall back to RM3,000 after 2017.

Now, the good news is, National Budget 2018 announced on 27 October 2017 has further extended  this SSPN-i maximum RM6,000 tax relief period for another 3 years, which will continue from assessment year 2018 until 2020.

This means that the maximum tax relief from SSPN-i new deposits will remain as RM6,000 until assessment year 2020.

Auspicious dates in 2018 for housewarming, open house, party, gathering, etc.

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2018 for organizing and hosting meet-up with friends and/or relatives (会友), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates are applicable for housewarming, open house, home party, gathering, potluck, and any other similar functions to meet up with friends and/or relatives. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2018

In many culture, religion and/or tradition, the first haircut of a baby is considered an important milestone for his/her life. The day is known as Mundan, Chadakarana, Halaqah, Upsherin, etc.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for baby first haircut in year 2018, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates in 2018 for getting a baby or childbirth

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2018 (year of Dog) for getting a baby (求嗣), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

The dates have good element(s) to embro/faetus. Traditionally, the dates are referred for conception planning (making love and expecting a baby to the family). Nowadays, people also make reference to them for Caesarian delivery of new born. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for starting new job / post / assignment in 2018

For employees, especially those in leading/managing position, here is a list of auspicious dates  in 2018 for starting new job/post/assignment, including joining new company or joining new team in existing company.

It can be applied to first day reporting to new company/department/office/position, or going for the post to lead/manage a new business unit/team/project/programme. It can also be applied to assuming new job position after promotion/restructuring/relocation exercise.
It is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2018

Before becoming the life partner, marriage is proposed by lover and engagement is made.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in year 2018 (year of Dog), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates in 2018 for signing contract, register for marriage, etc.

Here is the list of auspicious dates in year 2018 for signing contract, signing offer letter, register for marriage, receiving religious baptism, and other similar agreement-related activities.

It is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for wedding / marriage in 2019

Many couples plan for their wedding more than 1 year ahead in order to have sufficient preparation time.

Here is the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in year 2019 (year of Boar), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

If you are looking for auspicious dates for wedding / marriage in 2018 (year of Dog), click here.

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2018

Here is the list of auspicious dates for home or office renovation in year 2018, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for moving to new house / office in 2018

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2018, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

 

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

Auspicious dates for opening business in 2018

Here is the list of auspicious dates for opening business in year 2018, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

It can be applied to new business opening, or reopening of business after a break/holiday. (Click the image to enlarge)

Bear in mind that although the Tong Shu is a compilation of Chinese astrology and calendaring studies gathering wisdom of thousands of years, we should use it wisely and rationally, but not be too superstitious on it.

How to control 2 computers with a single Logitech M585 / M590 mouse and use it to copy-paste file from one computer to another

The Logitech M585 / M590 are multi-device flow wireless mice that can be paired with up to 2 computers at the same time either using the Logitech USB Unifying receiver or using Bluetooth. The main different between them is that M590 is a silent mouse while M585 will still produce click sound like other ordinary mice.

New user of the Logitech M585 / M590 mouse might have difficulty to figure out how to make the pairing with 2 computers, and how to make use of Logitech Flow to seamlessly move the mouse cursor from one computer to another.

This is because so far Logitech does not provide clear step-by-step instruction on how to perform the necessary setting. The printed instruction that comes with the mouse is like this:

Are you able to figure out what does these 7 steps mean?

Anyway, I managed to find out the way to do it by guessing on the above instruction and reading a few articles which scattered around Logitech's website and forum, each of them are like piece of brain teasing puzzle for us to link them together to figure out the ultimate answer.

If you also have a Logitech M585 / M590 mouse, I am going to share with you the know-how here.

There are 2 levels of using this Logitech M595 / M590 mouse in 2 computers:

• Level 1 - you can pair the mouse with 2 computers at the same time, but using the mouse between them one at a time.
• Level 2 - you pair the mouse with 2 computers at the same time, using the mouse between them one at a time, but the mouse control can flow seamlessly from one computer to another, and you can copy file from one computer and paste it to the other computer by just using your mouse.

How to setup for Level 1 - sharing one mouse between 2 computers?

Unlike ordinary mice which can only be paired with one computer at one time, your Logitech M585 / M590 mouse can be paired with either one or two computers at the same time.

The different is this:

• For ordinary mouse, you can only use it in one computer. If you want to use it in another computer, you will need to unplug the USB receiver from the original computer and plug it into the USB port of the other computer. For mouse that works with Bluetooth without the need of USB receiver, you need to perform Bluetooth pairing with the computer before it can be used in that computer. If you want to use it in another computer, you perform the Bluetooth pairing with the mouse again, and the mouse need to forget the Bluetooth pairing of the original computer before able to make a new Bluetooth pairing.
• For Logitech M595 / M590, it can pair with 2 computers at the same time, and it supports 2 different pairing methods: either using the Logitech Unifying receiver, or using Bluetooth. It is possible to pair with 2 different Logitech Unifying receivers (probably one is the Unifying receiver that comes with the mouse, the other is the Unifying receiver of another Logitech mouse, or you purchased an extra Unifying receiver from Logitech). It is also possible to pair with 1 Logitech Unifying receiver and 1 Bluetooth. It is also possible to pair with 2 different computers, both using Bluetooth respectively, without making use of Unifying receiver. (Note: Bluetooth pairing for Logitech M595 / M590 in Windows 7 is not supported. You can read this article for more detail on the supported operating system.)

Note that on top of the mouse, there are 2 LEDs, one is labelled as "1" and the other labelled as "2". When your mouse is currently working in Computer 1, the green LED 1 will light up. When your mouse is currently working in Computer 2, the green LED 2 will light up. There is a round button for you to switch between Computer 1 and Computer 2. Press one time, the mouse control will switch from Computer 1 to Computer 2, press it again to switch back the mouse control to Computer 1.

By default, the computer that plugged with the Unifying receiver that comes with the mouse is detected as Computer 1. You can also make Computer 2 to use the Unifying receiver of the mouse too.

The way to pair the mouse to Computer 1 and Computer 2 is as below:

• Switch on the mouse, LED 1 will start to blink slowly. If it found a paired Computer 1, the LED will stop blinking and stay on for a while, then both the LED are off.
• Press the round button, now LED 2 will blink slowly. If it found a paired Computer 2, the LED will stop blinking and stay on for a while, then both the LED are off.
• To make a new pairing with Computer 1, long press the round button when LED 1 is on. Then LED 1 will blink faster. At this stage, any paired information for Computer 1 will be forgotten, and it is ready to make a new pairing for Computer 1.
• To make a new pairing with Computer 2, use the same long press round button method when LED 2 is on.

To pair with a computer using Bluetooth:

• While the desired LED (either 1 or 2) on the mouse is fast blinking, go to Bluetooth settings in the computer, search for the mouse, and perform the pairing. If you are using laptop, you can control the mouse cursor with your touchpad before your mouse take over its mouse control.

To pair with another Logitech Unifying receiver:

• You will need to download and install Logitech Unifying Software.
• Run the Logitech Unifying Software in your computer.
• Click on the "Advanced..." button.
• Prepare your mouse for pairing. Either LED 1 or LED 2 should be fast blinking before continue with next step.
• Now, click the "Pair a New Device" in the Logitech Unifying Software Advanced View window.
• Follow the instruction on screen to turn off your mouse, and then turn it on again.
• The pairing should be complete at this step. You should be able to see the name of your mouse under the Unifying Receiver tree listing in Logitech Unifying Software.

If your Unifying receiver is paired with more than one mouse, all the mice can control the mouse cursor on the computer screen. The controlling mouse will have an orange Unifying badge shown in the Unifying receiver tree listing.

If you want to un-pair your old mouse, you can do so in Logitech Unifying Software by selecting the mouse and click the "Un-pair" button. This is optional.

At this stage, Level 1 setup is completed. When both Computer 1 and Computer 2 are turned on and within the wireless range of your mouse, you can switch your mouse to control one of them by pressing the round button. When only one of them is turned on, your mouse works just like other mice do.

The advantage of this Logitech multi-device function is that you only need one mouse for multiple computers. Logitech M585 / M590 supports up to 2 computers. Certain more advanced Logitech multi-device mice such as the M720 Triathlon can support up to 3 computers.

The disadvantage of Level 1 is that the switching of mouse control from one computer to another is not automatic. You need to press the round button. Don't worry, after you completed Level 2 settings, it will be fully automatic.


How to setup for Level 2 - seamlessly flow the mouse between 2 computers?

You need to complete the setting in Level 1 for Computer 1 and Computer 2 before coming to Level 2. Meaning, your mouse must have been paired with 2 computers.

In addition, for Level 2 to work:

• Both Computer 1 and Computer 2 must be installed with Logitech Options.
• Network connection can be either wired or wireless. It can be both computers connected using network cable, or one is wired and the other using WiFi, or both using WiFi.
• Both of them must be connected to the same local area network (LAN). If there are VLAN segmentations, both of them must be in the same VLAN segment.
• The following network ports must be accessible between them: TCP 443, TCP 59866, UDP 59867 and UDP 59868.

When you are ready:

• Turn on both Computer 1 and Computer 2.
• Run Logitech Options in both of them respectively.
• Go to the Logitech Flow screen in Logitech Options of either one of the computer. It doesn't matter is Computer 1 or Computer 2.

• Turn on Logitech Flow.
• The computer will proceed to search for Logitech Flow in the other computer. If successful, the Logitech Flow in the other computer will automatically turned on.

You can see 2 side-by-side rectangles in the Logitech Flow screen. The left rectangle belongs to Computer 1, and the right rectangle belongs to Computer 2. The computer which the mouse is currently controlling will be coloured in cyan.

Click on the three dots at the top right corner of the rectangle, you can see its computer name.

There are options for you to disable or remove it from Logitech Flow operation as shown. If the computer is disabled, you can come back to the same place to re-enable it. If the computer is removed, you need to perform all the steps in this Level 2 to link it back to Logitech Flow.

Note that there are a few settings you can change for Logitech Flow.

Switch between computers:

• Move to the edge: When your mouse cursor moves beyond the right edge of Computer 1, it will flow to Computer 2. When it moves beyond the left edge of Computer 2, it will flow to Computer 1.
• Hold Ctrl and move to the edge: This can prevent you from accidentally flow to another computer by requiring you to hold down your keyboard's Ctrl key for the flow to happen.

Screen corners:

• When enabled, flow will work even at screen corners.
• When disabled, flow will not work at screen corners. This can prevent you from accidentally flow to another computer when you want to minimize a maximized window and move your mouse cursor to the corner.

Copy and paste:

• When enabled, you can copy and paste text, images and files from one computer to another.
• The method is to select the text, images or files in one computer, press Ctrl-C or right click and select Copy action, then flow your mouse control to the other computer, press Ctrl-V or right click and select Paste action.
• This copy and paste action will lag if the file size is big.
• Note that direct drag and drop is not supported by Logitech Flow yet.

Now, you can enjoy the wonders of your Logitech M585 / M590 with Logitech Flow.

My Logitech M590 multi-device silent and flow wireless mouse

One of my wireless mouse started to have the common mouse problem of single click becomes double click. Therefore, I have recently bought a new Logitech M590 multi-device silent and flow wireless mouse.

Despite this Logitech M590 mouse has some advanced features that distinguish it from ordinary mouse, its packaging is not impressive at all. Its price is higher than ordinary mouse too, cost me RM99 to get it.

This Logitech M590 mouse is very identical to its sibling Logitech M585. The main different between them is that, M585 left and right buttons produce loud clicking sound just like other ordinary mice, while M590 left and right buttons are soundless and produce no clicking sound. Its other buttons also produce softer sound than ordinary mice. This is ideal for night owls who share the same room with roommate(s). Now you can use your computer silently at night without disturbing the sleep of your  roommate(s), provided you use this silent mouse together with a silent keyboard.

This mouse operates with a single AA battery, and comes together with a GP alkaline battery. Logitech claims that its battery life can last as long as 24 months (2 years), which is pretty impressive.

Beside the battery compartment, you can find its USB Unifying receiver after opening its back cover. It has an on/off switch at its back for you to lengthen its battery life by switching it off when not in use.

At the back of its packaging paper card, there is instruction on low to setup to link it with 2 computers using Logitech Flow, which I find is not very useful because it is very difficult to understand. It is only a 7 steps diagram without any explanation words!

Anyhow, I managed to figure out how Logitech Flow works and how to switch the mouse between 2 computers and use its feature to copy-and-paste clipboard content and files from one computer to another, which I will explain in detail in my next posting.

This mouse comes with 1 year warranty, and you can register it in this webpage.

After registration, you can proceed to download Logitech Options, the software for you to configure this Logitech M590 mouse. The Logitech Flow function is inside this Logitech Options.

In fact, after you plugged its Unifying receiver into your computer's USB port, switch on the mouse and turn on your computer, after you successfully logged in Windows, the system will automatically prompt you to download and install Logitech Options.

However, the installation of Logitech Options was not smooth. I have tried in more than one computers. The installation process of Logitech Options will take a very long time, and I only managed to get it successfully installed after I terminated its installation after 10 minutes, and run the installation program again. The installation will magically complete within 2 minutes during the second attempt.

Therefore, you need to download the installer from the above Logitech webpage, for you to perform the second attempt of installation, or you will need to spend unnecessary time and effort to locate the installer file used by the automatic installation process, which stays somewhere deep inside your hard disk.

This Logitech M590 mouse has altogether 6 buttons, as shown in the Logitech Options screen below. The middle button is used to switch between Computer 1 and Computer 2, which you cannot configure for other function. The other 5 buttons which are circled in the Logitech Options screen can be configured to have function according to your personal preference.

You just need to click on the circle, and after that select your preferred function from the menu.

In the Point & Scroll screen, you can set the mouse pointer speed, enable/disable smooth scrolling, and set the scroll wheel direction.

The Flow screen is where you configure the Logitech Flow function. There are 2 rectangles on the screen, the left one is your Computer 1, and the right one is your Computer 2. Once Logitech Flow is up and running, the mouse can seamlessly flow from the screen of one computer to another.

I will explain how to setup Logitech Flow in my next posting.

Beside pairing with its Unifying receiver, this Logitech M590 mouse can also paired with the Bluetooth receiver of your computer or tablet that supports low energy technology. Supported operating system for Bluetooth pairing includes:

• Windows 8 or Windows 10 or later
• Mac OS X 10.10 or later
• Chrome OS
• Android 5.0 or later

This is useful if you want to use Logitech Flow with 2 computers, but you only have 1 Unifying receiver that comes with the mouse.

If you have another Logitech mouse with Unifying receiver, you can use the Logitech Unifying Software to link this Logitech M590 with the Unifying receiver of the other mouse, as the Unifying receiver can support up to 6 Logitech devices. I will explain how to link Logitech M590 with another Unifying receiver in my next posting.

If your Unifying receiver is linked with more than one mouse, both the mice can control your mouse cursor on the screen at the same time.

If you plan to buy this Logitech M590 wireless mouse, here are some "catches" that you need to consider before making your decision:

• This mouse can work in Windows 7, but it cannot be connected with Bluetooth to Windows 7 computer. In addition, Windows 7 might have problem recognizing the Logitech Unifying receiver that comes together with the Logitech M590 mouse. Anyhow, it can still function as a mouse in Windows 7 with its Unifying receiver,  despite with these imperfectness. Therefore, it is more advisable to use this mouse in Windows 8 or above. I haven't tested this mouse in Linux or Mac computer though. It should be able to work with Linux Kernel 2.6+, Chrome OS, and Mac OS X 10.10 or later.
• This mouse does not come with Logitech Darkfield technology and will have difficulty working on glass surface. If you need this feature, can consider the Logitech MX Anywhere 2S mouse, which price is more than double to this Logitech M590.