A family trip to Sydney, Australia

Sydney was the first place I visited in Southern Hemisphere.

The Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport Terminal 1 is very busy. When we are landing, we could see airplanes queuing up at the runway, taking turn to take off one by one.

There are a lot of arriving passengers queuing up at the immigration customs counters. Besides the Incoming Passenger Card, we are also required to fill up a Travel History Card for Ebola contingency tracking.

We stayed at Railway Square YHA hostel located next to the Central Railway Station. It is well equipped with a big self-catering kitchen, spacious dining area, laundry room with washing machines and clothes dryers, luggage lockers, and even a small swimming pool. We met with quite a lot of young people from around the world who stayed there too.

You might want to have a nice experience staying in the hostel room modified from train cabins, as shown below. We stayed in double room with attached private bathroom, which is located inside the building, beside the laundry room.

Chinatown is just nearby the Railway Square YHA hostel. The food there is pretty expensive.

We visited Circular Quay, which is the founding site for Sydney. There are several ways to go there from the Railway Square YHA hostel, which we've tried all below:

• Taking the free shuttle bus number 555
• Taking the non-free bus
• Taking the double decker Cityrail train

We joined the I'm Free Tours city walk, guided by a young lady wearing a bright green I'm Free T-shirt. She brought us to various historical places around, which blended nicely with this modern city. She told us about The Rocks history, and the story behind various buildings we visited.

And we saw this sculpture named Still Life With Stone and Car by artist Jimmie Durham, created by dropping a large rock onto the car.

We had dinner at the famous Pancake On The Rocks near the Harbour Bridge.

There was Chuck Close art exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) which we wished to visit, but unfortunately we missed its opening time.

The next day, we went back to the harbour near Circular Quay, and took a ferry to go to Manly. There is nice ice-cream at Manly Wharf Pub and Restaurant.

Manly has nice beaches at both side of the Manly Corso street. We had a nice time at Shelly Beach, which really has a lot of shells on the beach.

This Sydney night view photo was taken from the ferry on our way back to Sydney Harbour. You might be amazed that the ferry has free WiFi service, even when it is travelling in the middle of the sea.

We also visited the Sydney Fish Market to enjoy the fresh seafood there. We went there by Sydney Light Rail tram.

There are a lot of seagulls at Sydney Harbours, near the Sydney Opera House, as well as at the Sydney Fish Market. They are not quite afraid of people close to them.

Another place we visited was Queen Victoria Building, which is a historical building with a historical lift in it. This building is now a shopping mall in Sydney.

We did planned to go to the Royal Botanic Gardens, but in the end couldn't make it.

Our Sydney trip was a short stay, before our journey to New Zealand.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

1. Applying for ETA online to travel to Australia

Comparison of the new Celcom First Basic plan with OPTIMISER and existing Celcom First plans

Celcom has just launched a new postpaid plan for smartphones with voice and data component, which has an OPTIMISER mechanism to provide flexibility for subscriber to use more data or more voice and SMS within a billing cycle.

Under the plan allocation, the subscriber is given a quota of 2 GB Internet data usage, 2 GB Celcom WiFi usage, 100 minutes voice call, and 100 SMS.

Once you have used all of your allocation above, OPTIMISER will automatically adjust to give you complimentary additional quota of either Internet or calls and SMS. You can either get an additional 2 GB of Internet data usage + 2 GB of Celcom WiFi usage, or additional of 150 minutes voice call + 150 SMS.

If your OPTIMISER allocation is also fully utilised, you will be charged 15 sen/minute for voice calls thereafter, and 15 sen per additional SMS. You can also get additional 1 GB Internet quota at the cost of RM15.

Lets compare this new Celcom First Basic plan with the existing Celcom First Prime plan with mAdvance data (probably no longer available for new subscription now), and the Celcom First One 5 GB data plan.

In the table above, you will notice that the Internet data quota increases from plan to plan, starting from 2 GB to 5 GB. When you get more Internet data quota, you will at the same time have less voice and SMS quota as a trade off.

It seems that the new Celcom First Basic plan with OPTIMISER is pretty good if you use more data than voice/SMS, but occasionally might need to use more voice/SMS in a particular month.

Anyhow, the Celcom First One 5GB plan is still the cheapest one if don't make a lot of calls and send very few SMS. I think nowadays we use more Whatsapp, Line and WeChat rather than sending conventional SMS/MMS, don't we?

If you are existing Celcom First Prime subscriber with mAdvance data plan, you can make use of the table above to consider whether you need to switch over to the new Celcom First Basic plan with OPTIMISER, or to stay along with your existing plan.

My SKROSS World Adapter MUV USB

If you travel to another country, it is a common problem that the power socket is of different type from your home country, and you need a power adapter as a converter to be able to plug in your electrical device to the wall socket.

My SKROSS World Adapter MUV USB designed in Switzerland (and made in Thailand) is my handy travel companion that can be used in more than 150 countries with its unique all-in-one sliders system.

It can be used with unearthed 2-pole devices, including charger for mobile phone, tablet, digital camera, GPS, razor, voice recorder, MP3 player, and even my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro multimode ultrabook laptop.

However, it cannot be used with earthed 3-pole devices which normally have higher power rating, such as hair dryer, water heater, etc.

It does not convert the input voltage, and can work under voltage between 100-250 volts with maximum current of 2.5 Amperes (maximum power of 2.5 x 250 = 625 Watts). This means that if your device can only operate with less than 125 volts, and you try to plug it into a 220 volts socket, it will get burnt.

The SKROSS World Adapter MUV USB has a built-in T2.5A 250V fuse, which will break the circuit if the power drained exceed its maximum limit.

The SKROSS World Adapter MUV USB also has 2 built-in USB charging ports, which provide up to 2,100 mA charging power. Therefore, it is capable to connect to 3 devices at the same time, when 2 are charging with its USB ports and another using its output socket.

If you have a lot of devices that need 2.1A or 2.4A fast charging, you can plug in the Belkin B2E027 4-port 2.4A full rate USB power charger to get more full rated USB charging ports.

This adapter comes with 2 years warranty. Its price of RM149 is not cheap, when compared with non-branded alternatives, but you can have more peace of mind using this branded Swiss product.

My Belkin B2E027 4-port 2.4A full rate USB power charger

With more and more mobile devices and gadgets at home, which commonly use Type A USB for battery recharging, I've bought a Belkin B2E027 4-port USB power charger to charge up to 4 devices at the same time.

This Belkin USB power charger doesn't come cheap, but it is not as expensive as it listed price which you can notice in the photo above. I bought it for RM88.

So, what's the different of this 4-port USB charger from other cheaper alternatives, other than the Belkin brand which is a symbol of reliability?

Firstly, all the 4 USB charging ports support fast charging up to 2.4 Amperes each at full rate. Therefore, all of them are equally capable to charge tablets, iPad, and other devices that need 2 Amperes charging which won't charge on the normal 1 Ampere USB charging port.

Secondly, it comes with a $2500 Connected Equipment Warranty from Belkin.

Thirdly, it is attached with a 6 feet long power cable. The advantage is, it can be place at a nice location some distance away from the wall socket. The disadvantage is, you might find the cable too long to keep, especially when you are on the way bringing it with you from one place to another.

However, its size of about 5x4 square inches is quite big and takes up some space on the table.

See it in action below, when one of the ports is in used...

Travel tips to New Zealand (South Island)

I have just completed a family vacation to South Island of New Zealand. Here are some travel tips that I would like to share with you, if you are going to travel to New Zealand too.

Weather:

• Even though I went there during near summer time, the weather most of the time is cold with temperature around 5-15 degree Celsius. You will experience cool breeze at places near the seaside or large lakeside. Therefore, warm jacket in your luggage is a must regardless which month you travel there.

Customs:

• The customs check at Christchurch airport is pretty strict. If they suspect you to bring in or bring out forbidden items in your bag, your bag will be quarantined for thorough checking. That will cost you quite a lot of time. Forbidden items include any liquid in your hand carry bag.

Tourist information:

• Remember to collect a free copy of Arrival Magazine at the arrival hall of the international airport. You can find some coupons which is able to save you some activity cost in New Zealand.
• In every major town and popular attractions, you will probably find the New Zealand visitor information center called i-Site. You can ask for information, make booking, and get free maps and tourist booklet there. The toilet at i-Site is also available for your use (the toilet in petrol stations, restaurants, shops, ... only open to their customer only, if made available)
• Check for tickets at BookMe website for the attractions you plan to visit. You might be able to get discount price as high as 99% (in other words, pay only 1% for the ticket price).

Mobile telephony and Internet service:

• Free WiFi is available at Christchurch airport. Need a simple web-based registration before use.
• I purchased a Spark prepaid value pack SIM card at the price of $29 that come with 150 minutes talk time, 500MB data plan and unlimited SMS. The coverage is good, even got one or two bars of signal deep inside Mt Cook Hooker Valley. I always get the availability of Spark WiFi (free for Spark users, with daily quota of 1GB) at YHA various hostels, on top of the free WiFi provided by YHA.

On the road:

• The best way to travel around is to rent a car. There are a few car rental companies near Christchurch Airport. You will need a valid driving license issued in your country. You won't encounter any traffic jam in New Zealand South Island, and there are a lot of road signboards along the way.
• If you plan to rent a camper van, beware that it would be more difficult for you to find parking place. Besides, camper van can only park overnight at designated areas, normally located near major attractions.
• If you plan to rent a car, a GPS navigator with most recent New Zealand maps will be very useful. The mobile Internet data plan there is expensive for high quota usage. I would advise you to bring a Garmin GPS with you instead of using online map and navigation apps in your smartphone.
• The speed limit in town area is normally 50km/h only. The speed limit on highway is 100km/h. The highway speed limit that cross certain small towns is 80km/h.
• There are kilometres of unpaved road in farm areas. If you want to avoid going into such route, set your GPS avoidance accordingly.
• New Zealand drivers are generally courteous. Always follow the speed limit, obey the traffic light, give way to pedestrians at zebra crossing. 
• I didn't see any highway toll in New Zealand South Island.
• Passenger cars in New Zealand normally filled with RON-91 petrol. RON-95 is considered premium petrol in New Zealand. I didn't see any RON-97 or RON-99 pump there.

Parking:

• Most roadside parking is free, but has a maximum parking time from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Certain parking places in Christchurch need to be paid by feeding the machine nearby and display the parking ticket.
• Parking at shopping mall such as Countdown also has maximum parking time.
• Do not park exceeding the maximum time. You might get fined, and need to pay the penalty at the town council.

Accommodation:

• If you are looking for cheap accommodation with free WiFi internet facility, YHA hostel could be a good option. They are equipped with shared kitchen that have the necessary cooking utensils, dishes and glasses, coin operated washing machine and clothes dryer.
• There are quite a lot of motels in New Zealand. Make your booking early while there is still vacancy available. Note that not all of them come with free WiFi and laundry facility. You need to find out the availability before confirming your booking.
• If you want a motel that provide free shuttle service to pick you up from Christchurch airport to the motel during arrival, and from motel to Christchurch airport upon departure, and the pick-up time can be any time (even at midnight), try to look for Airport Gateway Motor Lodge.

Prices:

• The prices you see in New Zealand are inclusive 15% GST.
•  If you want to buy honey or chocolates, the price in small town could be cheaper than the price in airport's duty free shops.
• Don't forget there are discount coupons in Arrival Magazine, and Internet booking discount for certain activities at BookMe website.

Credit card:

• Credit card can be used at most of the places.
• Certain place will impost additional charge if you pay with credit card rather than cash.
• The credit card security measure in New Zealand seems to be very loose. Sometimes the shop doesn't even need your signature. Internet transaction also not making use of the 3 digit validation code at the back of your card.

Applying for ETA online to travel to Australia

I am going to travel to Australia, and I need a visa to enter into the continent. The fastest and easiest way is to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) online.

The ETA provides authorization for visitors holding a valid passport from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei, Japan, Korea, USA or Canada to travel to and enter Australia.

The ETA is valid for 1 year from the date of application, or until the expiry date of your passport, whichever earlier. With an ETA, you will be able to have multiple entries to Australia until its expiry date. for each entry, you can stay in Australia for a period of up to 3 months.

The service charge to apply for an Australia ETA is AUD$20 payable online with credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, or JCB) when making the application. If your ETA is rejected for any reason, this service charge is non-refundable.

You need to be located outside Australia when making an ETA application. You need to provide your personal detail, contact detail and an email address to receive the letter of confirmation. If you are travelling with your family members staying in the same house, you might find it a bit cumbersome as you need to apply ETA for each of them, and need to repeatedly enter the same contact information (address, phone numbers, etc.)  during each of the ETA applications.

I received the email confirmation almost instantly after making the online credit card payment.

For each of the ETA applications, you will be given a reference number, enabling you to check for the ETA status and expiry date in the same website.

Click here to go to the Australia ETA application and checking website.

Conditions apply to the Australia ETA:

• Working is not allowed.
• Taking short term study course is allowed, but you must not study for more than 3 months.
• You must be free from tuberculosis.
• You must not have any criminal convictions.

Ten questions you should ask during a job interview

The following is an inspiring list of 10 questions that job interviewee should ask during the interview session.

1. How will this position change after I’ve been here a while?
2. If this is not a new position where has the prior person gone? Did they get promoted or leave? How stable is the group that I am being hired for?
3. How will you use my skills if the activity I am being hired for is stalled or something unexpected arises?
4. What is the career path for this position? — to jobs with more responsibility? Management posts? Positions that require specific technical expertise?
5. What is the project/product road-map for the next one to three years?
6. What kind of training and support for ongoing education does the organization offer?
7. Is there an open door policy to communicate with upper management levels within he organization?
8. How will my role contribute to the overall mission of the company?
9. What outcomes will you use to measure those contributions? What metrics will be in place to measure personal and team performance?
10. Will I have opportunities to work directly with the line organization outside of my group?

Source: the blog of Janco Associates.

Index call warrants and put warrants listed in Bursa Malaysia

The stock market has gone volatile recently. During a volatile market, sometimes it could be a better option to trade on index warrant, which is a structured warrant that is issued by warrant issuer (such as CIMB, Maybank, RHB, Ambank, Kenanga, Macquarie, etc.) over an underlying stock market index, such as the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBMKLCI, 富时大马指数), Hong Kong Hang Seng Index (HSI, 恒生指数), etc.

There are 2 kinds of index warrants listed in Bursa Malaysia. If you feel bullish on the market, you can look into the call warrants, and if you feel bearish on the market, you can
 on the other hand look into the put warrants.

Each of the index warrants has the following information:

• Expiry date: You can buy and sell the warrant in the market until its expiry date. Upon expiry, the warrant issuer will pay you money if your cash settlement amount is positive. Else, you will get nothing and your money invested in the warrant will be burnt.
• Exercise level (a.k.a. strike level): the index points to exercise the warrant. For call warrant, the lower the better. For put warrant, the higher the better.
• Exercise ratio: this is the leverage element of the warrant. It is the amount of warrants required to exercise one underlying index.
• Settlement level: the index points on the settlement day.

The cash settlement amount (CSA) is calculated based on the formula below:

where FX Rate is the forex exchange rate to convert overseas index warrant settlement value to RM.

The current index warrants listed in Bursa Malaysia is as below:

It seems like FBMKLCI-HB deserves some attention. You will break even if bought it at RM0.145 and KLCI drops to 1753.50.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2016

I have posted the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2016 quite some times ago, and here is the reverse, namely the inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2016. The list below is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

 

If you are concerned, then you should probably avoid getting married on the listed days above.

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.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2016
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2015
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2015

Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2016

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 2016 (year of Monkey), 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.

Related articles:

• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2016
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2015
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2015

The Edge forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook

The Edge Malaysia is organizing a forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook - Make Better Decisions.

Date: Saturday, 1 November 2014
Time: 10.00am - 12.30am
Venue: Security Commission Malaysia, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Admission: Free

The speakers are:

• Jason Chong from Manulife Asset Management Services Bhd
• Chen Fan Fai from Eastspring Investment Bhd
• Datuk Tong Kooi Ong from The Edge Media Group

Are you shocked with the recent market turbulence and want to listen to the view of these renowned fund managers and/or investors?

Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge forum on 2015 Economy and Investment Outlook.

Fixed Windows 8 boot into black screen with mouse cursor problem

This morning, I found my laptop unable to boot up to Windows 8.

During boot up, it stuck at a black screen with mouse cursor. The mouse cursor is movable. There were harddisk activities which eventually stopped, and nothing happen next. No Windows logo shown, and no login screen.

I've tried the following but nothing worked:

• Press ctrl-alt-del, nothing happened.
• Press the Power key to turn off the laptop, then press the Power key again to start up. It went to the same situation.
• Press F8, F12, shift-F12, etc. during boot up, nothing happened. There was no boot menu shown up.

I searched the Internet and found that this is a problem faced by many. I fixed it by having an abnormal power off in the black screen with mouse cursor, and let Windows heal itself during the next boot up progress.

To do so, unplug the power cable, and remove the laptop battery while it is still in the black screen with mouse cursor, after the harddisk activities stopped. Wait for 30 seconds, then put back the laptop battery and plug back the power cable. Press the Power key to turn on the laptop. Viola! Finally Windows is back to normal.

The key to this fix is that, you need to abnormally power off the system. The problem won't fix if you press the Power key to shutdown properly and restart.

I checked the Event Viewer, can't find anything logged about this problem. Microsoft, why your Windows always caught us by surprise, and yet left us clueless to troubleshoot the problem???

Download and read the Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses

Malaysia government is going to implement the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 April 2015.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department has published a Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses, which is a very good reference book for everyone in Malaysia to have better understanding about this upcoming GST. You can download its e-Book for free from their website.

Click here to download the Handbook for Goods and Services Tax (GST) for Businesses.

The content of this 183-pages handbook consists of:

1. Salient features of GST

• What is GST?
• Proposed GST model
• Basic elements of GST
• Registration for GST

2. Accounting for tax

• Charging output tax
• Entitlement of input tax
• Apportionment rules
• Credit note & adjustment
• Debit note & adjustment
• Bad debt & adjustment
• Filing of GST return & payment
• Record keeping 

3. Implementation of GST and business preparation

• Preparation for implementation of GST
• GST implications
• Tax code
• Business preparation for GST
• Supplies spanning GST
• Non reviewable contract
• Special refund

Beside this handbook, you can also find many information about GST implementation in Malaysia from this official website: http://gst.customs.gov.my/en/Pages/default.aspx

Top 30 property developers in The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards 2014

The Edge Malaysia has just announced the Top 10 winners in their Property Excellence Awards 2014, which are:

• Sunway Bhd
• Sime Darby Property Bhd
• SP Setia Bhd
• UEM Sunrise Bhd
• Gamuda Bhd (Property Division)
• Tropicana Corp Bhd
• IGB Corp Bhd
• Eastern & Oriental Bhd
• Mah Sing Group Bhd
• IOI Properties Bhd

Following the Top 10 winners above, the subsequent Top 11-30 are:

• UOA Development Bhd
• I&P Group Sdn Bhd
• Bandar Utama City Corp Sdn Bhd
• IJM Land Bhd
• KLCC Property Holdings Bhd
• Glomac Bhd
• YTL Land & Dev. Bhd
• Eco World Development Group Bhd
• Naim Holdings Bhd
• Bandar Raya Developments Bhd
• WCT Land Sdn Bhd
• Selangor Dredging Bhd
• Wing Tai Malaysia Bhd
• MKH Bhd
• Paramount Corp Bhd
• KSL Holdings Bhd
• PJ Development Holdings Bhd
• OSK Property Holdings Bhd
• Plenitude Bhd
• TA Global Bhd

Congratulation to the Sunway Group for winning this award. Besides, their Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat also won The Edge-PAM Green Excellence Award 2014.

iCapital.biz newsletter RM25 one year subscription special offer

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary of iCapital.biz, this newsletter run by Mr. Tan Teng Boo is now having a special promotion of RM25 for one year subscription (normal price: RM720), a very generous 96.5% discount!

This newsletter, available in English and Chinese language, in printed and online platform, contains detail analysis of local and regional macroeconomics observation, their view on equity markets in Kuala Lumpur, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong, company news and analysis, several stock portfolios, trading picks, etc.

Considering the amount of effort, intelligence and skill required to produce this weekly newsletter, I believe RM25 is really value for money for all stock investors in Malaysia.

For the printed version, postage charge is free if you choose ordinary POS Malaysia service, and you will need to pay extra for other faster and/or safer delivery service.

Even if you choose the ordinary mail option, you can still access the updated content online while waiting for your printed copy to reach your doorstep.

Click here to find out more detail and online subscription to the iCapital.biz RM25/year special offer

Besides, Capital Dynamics is going to have their 2014 Investor Day on 11-12 October in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. You can click here for more detail and online registration to the event.

Full report for free download: ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia (June 2014)

Are you working in the ICT industry or as an ICT personnel in your organization? Or are you a student studying an ICT related subject now? If yes, you might be interested in this newly released  ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia (June 2014) by PIKOM in collaboration with Jobstreet and MDEC.

Given the orientation towards a service focus economy, the ICT Service (ICTS) segment in Malaysia is projected to register significant growth in 2014.

The ICTS segment grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.4%, lifting its value-added services from RM11.77 billion in 2000 to RM59.83 billion in 2013. The ICTS segment is poised to reach the mark of RM67.99 billion in 2014 by registering a repeat annual growth rate of 12.4%. In tandem, the share of ICTS in the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from 3.3% to 6.4%, almost doubling over the period of 2000-2014.

The average monthly salary of an ICT professional in Malaysia in 2013 was RM7,152. This represents an increase of 7.2% from RM6,673 in 2012. The growth continues steadily, and this figure shows that ICT professionals in Malaysia, generally earn a higher salary in average than most other professionals.

The average salary over then past 3 years, by job category ranging from fresh graduates to senior management, is as below.

Interested to find out more detail? Click here to download the full report of ICT Job Market Outlook in Malaysia (June 2014).

Restrict apps network access in Android smartphones with Firewall Plus

Do you want to block the mobile advertisement from appearing in the screen of your standalone (can work locally without network connection) apps or games?

Do you feel suspicious and insecure when you discovered there are network activities from some of the apps installed in your smartphone, even though you didn't open them, or the apps suppose to work locally without the need of connecting to the network?

Would you like to restrict certain apps that consume a lot of network data usage, such as e-Magazines, e-Newspapers, etc., so that they can only use WiFi connection to access the network, and not using your precious mobile data plan?

If you have already rooted your Android device, you can install the free Firewall Plus.

I found this Firewall Plus very straightforward and easy to use, and it has a very small file size of 239kb only.

It will list down all the apps in your Android device, which you can select to allow the apps to have WiFi access, or 3G/4G mobile access, or both, or none, respectively.

It has 2 modes, the Blacklist mode is useful when you want to allow majority of the apps to have full network access, and the Whitelist mode is useful when you want to disallow network access to all the apps by default.

Firewall Plus works on top of the built-in iptables firewall in Android.

If you haven't rooted your Android device, you can also try another app called NoRoot Firewall. NoRoot Firewall leverages on the VPN function of your Android device to perform its firewall function, which I think is less efficient than Firewall Plus.

By the way, if you have installed 3G Watchdog or its Pro version in your Android device to monitor your network usage, it is able to show you the usage by apps very clearly.

Of course, you can also make use of the Data Manager inside the Android Kitkat system to check for network usage by apps.

Reenabling external SD card access that is restricted in Android 4.4 (KitKat) with SDFix

If you have updated your Android smartphone to version 4.4.x (KitKat), you might find that access to your external SD card is now restricted by the system.

The system now comes with a file explorer that is having full read/write access to both your internal storage and external SD card storage. However, 3rd party file explorers lost the write access to the external SD card and can no longer create, move or edit files or folders in it.

Many apps can no longer save data and files in the external SD card, including your backup apps, multimedia apps, file transfer apps, etc.

This will bring problem to the operation of numerous apps. You might also face storage shortage if the internal storage of your phone is less than 32GB.

Luckily, you can reconfigure your Android smartphone to treat your external SD card the same way as before version 4.4, and let you get rid of the restriction that causes you hassle, trouble and problem.

There is only one condition: your Android smartphone must be rooted, as root access is required to change the affected system configuration file.

I use a free app called SDFix: KitKat Writable MicroSD by NextApp Inc. for my HTC One (M8) and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) after they've updated to Android 4.4.x. This app is simple, easy, and works like a charm.

You will need to reboot your phone for the change to take effect after the app changed the system configuration file. If the change is successful, you can proceed to uninstall the app as you only need to run it once.

Deepavali public holiday in 2014 changed from Thu 23-Oct to Wed 22-Oct

Malaysia Federal Government vide Gazette notification dated 6 December 2013 has declared 22 October 2014 (Wednesday) as the Public Holiday for Deepavali.

This superseded the earlier Gazette Notification of Deepavali which declared it to be on 23 October 2014 (Thursday).

Source references:

• Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) Circular No. AG 7/2014
• Warta Kerajaan No. 43367 dated 6 December 2013
• Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) webpage for Public Holidays 2014

ecoLiving Advance E27 LED light bulb

I need to change the light bulb in one of my pillar lights, and found this ecoLiving Advance LED light bulb (9 watts, 910 lumens, for E27 base) selling at promotion price of RM15.90 in Tesco.

I used to use energy saving CFL light bulbs, which cost around RM10-15 too. On the same day, Philips brand energy saving CFL light bulb (18 watts, 1040 lumens, for E27 base) was selling at the price of RM11.90 in Tesco, only RM4 cheaper.

Other brands of 9W E27 LED light bulb available in Tesco include Osram and Philips. They were priced at above RM40 in Tesco on the same day.

Since its cheap price, I decided to give it a try. So, this is my first purchase of E27 LED light bulb. Let's see it in action...

It is as bright as the 18W CFL energy saving light on other pillars beside it, yet it is able to save 50% of energy by operating at 9W only!

It also claims to have 1.5x longer lifespan (up to 25,000 running hours) than the CFL energy saving light bulb (10,000 running hours).

When the price of LED lightings become more and more affordable, I can foresee that they will replace the CFL energy saving lightings, which currently replacing the traditional fluorescent and incandescent lightings.

Malaysian Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) received firmware update to Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat)

After a long waiting period, the Malaysian Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5100) finally received its OTA firmware update to Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat) from previous Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean).

The build number of this update is: KOT49H.N5100XXDNH3, with Android version 4.4.2, baseband version N5100DXDNG1. Kernel version is 3.0.31-2637964 dated Fri Aug 29 2014.

This firmware incorporates Samsung Find My Mobile service, which you can perform remote control from the website http://findmymobile.samsung.com to:

• Locate your device
• Lock your device
• Ring your device
• Retrieve call logs
• Wipe off your device
• Unlock device's screen

Converting nano SIM card to micro SIM card or standard SIM card using Noosy SIM card adapter

During the good old days, all handphones use standard SIM card with the same size of 25mm x 15mm.

Then, certain high-end smartphones such as Apple iPhone 4, HTC One X, HTC One (M7), Samsung Galaxy S3, Samsung Galaxy S4, etc. started to use a smaller size micro SIM card of 15mm x 12mm. The standard SIM card couldn't fit in their micro SIM card slot, and need to be cut with a SIM card cutter, or you need to request for a new micro SIM card from your telco.

Not long after that, the later high-end smartphones such as Apple iPhone 5, HTC One (M8), Motorola Moto X, etc. started to use an even smaller size nano SIM card of 12.3mm x 8.8mm. Again, the standard SIM card or micro SIM card couldn't fit in their nano SIM card slot, and need to be cut with a SIM card cutter, or you need to request for a new nano SIM card from your Telco.

In some occasion, you might want to convert your smaller SIM card to a bigger one. For example, when your new smartphone is faulty and need to send back for repair, and you need to temporary fall back to your old smartphone which uses a bigger SIM card.

Luckily, there exist SIM card adapters that enable you to convert your smaller SIM card to a bigger one, similar to the concept of converting micro SD card to a standard SD card.

Noosy SIM card adapters come in a pack with 4 items:

• 1 x Nano SIM to Micro SIM adapter
• 1 x Nano SIM to Standard SIM adapter
• 1 x Micro SIM to Standard SIM adapter
• 1 x SIM tray ejector for iPhone, HTC One, etc.

Each pack only cost me RM1.80.

Favelle Favco (FAVCO, 7229) - business growing, share price yet to catch up

About 2 years ago, I mentioned about Favelle Favco (FAVCO, 7229) here.

Now, its share price already more than doubled up (29-Nov-2012 closing: RM1.47, 5-Sep-2014 closing: RM3.31, dividend paid between the period: RM0.18. Gain = 137.41%).

This stock counter caught my attention again, as its business continues growing over the period, but its share price topped at RM3.89 on 9 April 2014, after that dropped to RM3.24 on 9 May 2014, and has been side-lining until now. In fact, its share price dropped a bit during the last week in August 2014, and has been struggling between the range of RM3.25 to RM3.39 recently.

Below is its 3 year price chart, showing that despite its share price is laggard behind its business growth speed, but it is still keeping on moving up at a steady rate. In any month of the year, its share price in current year is always higher than previous year.

Now, lets see the changes in its fundamental over the past 2 years.

Traditionally, the 1st quarter is a slow period for FAVCO, which hopefully will improve in 2nd quarter, and becoming better in 3rd quarter, then slow down a bit in 4th quarter. This is reflected in its quarterly profit margin as shown in the table above.

The clients of FAVCO, who specialized in cranes, are mainly from Oil & Gas sector, and also from Construction (i.e. high-rise building), Marine (i.e. ship terminals), etc.

Its revenue derived from its outstanding order booked. Once the order booked materialized into revenue, the outstanding order booked will decrease. At the same time, new projects are secured with new Purchase Order (PO) received, which will then add on to the order booked figure subsequently.

FAVCO will announced their new substantial PO received in Bursa Malaysia Announcement website. PO with smaller value are not announced, but will be included in the outstanding order booked figure announced in the next quarterly report.

We can see that FAVCO's outstanding order booked has increased to above billion since the 3rd quarter of 2013. Over the past 2 years. every quarter in between the quarterly reports announcement, FAVCO had at least one announcement on new substantial PO received without fail. This mean they continue to get new business throughout the year, while fulfilling the secured projects on hand.

FAVCO announced their 2014Q2 report on 25 August 2014. This is a very good result, as its revenue and net profit growth are substantial, be it compared to last quarter or to same quarter in last year. It net profit broke a new record high. Its profit margin also gone above 10% for the 2nd time. However, its share price has not react to this good result, probably dragged by overall market sentiment.

Note that on 3 September 2014, FAVCO announced new substantial order booked amounting RM119.9 million. There are 2 more months to go before they announce the next quarterly report in November 2014. If within the next 2 months, they announce another new substantial order booked, then it will be confirmed that their outstanding order booked is breaking a new record high!

On 5 September 2014, FAVCO's share issued is 216.51 million. Its trailing 4 quarters net profit is RM84.228 million. We can calculate its EPS to be RM84.228/216.51 = 38.90 sen. With this, we can calculate its PE ratio on 5 September 2014 closing to be 331/38.90 = 8.5.

As long as FAVCO's business continue to grow, it is a matter to time for its share price to catch up and reflect its fundamental strength.


Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

HTC One (M8) users get 100GB free Google Drive storage (doubled from previous 50GB)

Today, I received an email from Google Drive with title the "Changes to your Google storage plan". Its content is as below:

Huray! HTC One (M8) users' free Google Drive storage is now increased from 50GB to 100GB! This includes existing users who have already activated the free Google Drive storage and had already received 50GB free storage, now it is doubled up to 100GB too.

This 100GB of Google Drive storage is on top of the existing free storage of 15GB, which is shared among Gmail, Google Drive and Google+ photos.

Thanks to HTC and Google!

Upgraded my HTC One Android smartphone from M7 to M8

Last week, I traded in my HTC One (M7) for a new HTC One (M8). I am glad that after slightly more than one year of usage, the M7 still carries a good resell value, and I got my brand new M8 at the cost of RM1,000 only.

To date, the M7 is still a great Android phone. Anyhow, it is a good move to trade it in for a brand new M8 while it still has good resell value.

One of my main reason to upgrade my M7 to M8 is to get better cameras both front and back. M8 has duo back camera, and front camera is 5-megapixel (compared to 2.1-megapixel in M7). M8 camera has additional features too, such as the UFocus function.

Another main reason is the availability of the innovative HTC Dot View case for M8. I can check current time and temperature, make call, and answer call without uncover the M8 from the Dot View case. The M8 screen also auto wake up when I open the cover.

M8 is longer than M7 and is having a larger 5" display (compared to 4.7" in M7). However, the bottom part of its display is used by softkeys, and the actual display length of M8 is slightly less than M7 (meaning, M7 displays slightly more vertical content on its screen). This is due to both M7 and M8 are having the same resolution of 1920x1080, but the M7 has higher pixel density at 468ppi compared to 441ppi in M8. This is something that M8 loses out to M7!

As a result of lower pixel density, the text in M8 (of same font and size) appears larger than in the screen of M7.

M8 is slightly slimmer than M7, and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (claimed to be 3 times more damage resistant and 40% more scratch-resistant than Gorilla Glass 2 used in M7).

The aluminium build in M8 is more solid than M7. There will be wear and tear in M7 micro USB port and volume button. Its seems that the M8 design is more durable. IMHO, the position of power button and headphone port on M8 is also better than M7.

The 2600mAh Li-Po battery in M8 surprisingly charges much faster than the 2300mAh Li-Po battery in M7. With a larger battery capacity, the M8 can generally last longer in one charge cycle than M7.

M8 also comes with a micro SD card slot, enable you to expand its storage up to 128GB. You will need the tray eject pin to access the micro SD card holder, the same way as the nano-SIM card holder. Bear in mind that Android Kitkat has imposed some restriction on the use of non-internal storage in order to improve on security, which will limit the usage of micro SD card in the phone.

M7 is using micro-SIM card, while M8 is using nano-SIM card. As the size is different, you can't simply migrate over the SIM card from M7 to M8 without modification or replacement.

Processor wise, M8 is using a newer and faster quad-core Snapdragon 801 compared to quad-cord Snapdragon 600 in M7. In normal use, you won't feel much different in terms of speed between them. You will feel the different when using processor hungry apps, such as certain 3D games.

Both M7 and M8 received software update to Android 4.4.3 with Sense 6.0 recently. There isn't much different between them in terms of the OS and default software. M8 has some additional features such as Motion Launch which you can't find in M7.

M8 is using Boom Sound audio enhancement (which can't be turned off when using internal speakers), while M7 is using Beats Audio. Both are great and is a key HTC feature that makes a difference from other smartphones in the market.

I have already got some additional storage space in Google Drive by using M7. I received some more additional storage in Google Drive after upgraded to M8. This can also be considered as one of the major advantage of upgrading M7 to M8.

As a conclusion, it really worth it to upgrade HTC One from M7 to M8, while the M7 still has good resell value now. You will get the newest HTC flagship smartphone with slightly larger screen, better build, faster battery charging speed, new features (particularly major enhancement in camera functions), and innovative Dot View case.

Migrating the contacts and conversation history of SMS, Whatsapp and WeChat from old phone to new phone

When you want to migrate from one smartphone to another, one of your major concerns is probably how to move over the contacts and chat history of your SMS, Whatsapp, WeChat, LINE, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, etc.

You shouldn't be worry about Google Hangouts and Facebook Messenger, because everything is stored in their cloud server in the Internet. You just need to remember your user account and password, and setup accordingly in your new phone, in order to regain access to your contacts and chat history of these 2 apps.

If you are using Android phone, it is strongly recommended to store all your phonebook contacts in your Google account. In this way, you can always get back your address book by setting the same Google account in your new Android phone. Besides, setting the same Google account enable your new Android phone to install all your previously purchased apps from Google Play Store without additional charges too.

Your new phone should have a way to retrieve the SMS and phone calling history from your old phone. In the case of HTC smartphones with Android 4.4 and above, go to Settings > Get content from another phone for this purpose. You might need to install HTC Transfer Tool in your old Android phone to facilitate the data transfer.

For Whatsapp, backup your existing conversations in old phone with Settings > Chat settings > Backup conversations. Then, copy over the entire Whatsapp folder from your old phone's storage to your new phone.

After that, install Whatsapp on your new phone. Whatsapp will auto-detect the Whatsapp folder with backup data, and prompt you to restore your message history. Make sure you select Restore in this step, and your Whatsapp contacts, chats, group chats, attachments, etc. will all be restored. You can then continue using Whatsapp in your new phone with everything from the snapshot point of your latest backup in your old phone.

WeChat make use of their server for backup and restore. Go to Settings > General > Chat History Backup and select Back Up to backup your chat history.

Your backup will be stored over the Internet in their server for up to 7 days. If you don't restore your backup data within 7 days, it will be deleted from the server.

You will be given the option to password protect your backup data. The same password is required during restore process.

To restore, install WeChat on your new phone, go to the same place Settings > General > Chat History Backup and select Restore. You will get back your chats and group chats history.

In the case of LINE, there is no restore solution yet. After installing LINE in your new phone, you will be able to get back your LINE contacts, but you will start over your conversations from zero again.

How to cancel wrongly pressed lift (elevator) button

If you accidentally pressed one or more lift (elevator) buttons, or your kid is playing around with the lift buttons, or you just want to unselect a lift button, here is the tips.

All you need to do is double press the button, and its light will go off. If double press doesn't work in your lift (elevator), try a long press instead.

If you find this tips working and useful, feel free to share this article out to your friends.

Check TNB electricity bill payment status with myTNB app for Android and iOS

I just discovered that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has released a mobile app called myTNB for both Android and iOS smart mobile devices.

You need to register an account in order to use myTNB. After that, you can link all the electricity bills under your name to this myTNB account.

Then, you are able to check the billing status of each of the bills. This is particularly useful for residential property owners to check and ensure their tenants have paid for the electricity bill.

Beside that, you can also use myTNB to check for new electricity supply application status, Renewable Energy payment advice, report faulty street light, etc.

However, the report faulty street light is not done through the app itself, but still using traditional SMS method, which might cost you SMS charge for sending to 15454.

• Click here to install myTNB for your Android mobile device
• Click here to install myTNB for your iOS mobile device

Updated my HiMedia Q5II Android TV box firmware to Caidy Custom Mango Hi Q v1.0.7

The official Mango Hi Q v1.0.7 for HiMedia Q5II Android TV box has been released about a month ago. It comes with some known bugs, and some bloatware that is undeletable.

I have chosen to update my HiMedia Q5II with the Caidy Custom firmware v1.0.7 which is lighter (by removing unnecessary components from the official firmware, including the bloatware) and with several enhancements and bug fixes.

Caidy Custom firmware v1.0.7 is available for the following models of HiMedia Android TV box:

• EMMC version: HD600AII, Q5II, Q12, Q15, Q9
• NAND version: HD600AII, Q5II

You can download this Caidy Custom firmware v1.0.7 for HiMedia TV boxes here.

Make sure you download the firmware that matches with the model number of your HiMedia Q-series dual core Android TV box. If the label on your box has the wording of "eMMC" (which is the newer version sold to the market since November 2013 onwards), download the firmware for EMMC version. Otherwise, download the firmware for non-EMMC version.

The update process is pretty simple. Just put the downloaded file in a USB thumb drive, then plug the USB thumb drive into one of the USB port of the HiMedia TV box, and perform the update from System Settings option.
I have to warn you that you will very likely encounter data lost during the firmware update process, as this update will factory reset your HiMedia TV box. Make sure you copy out and/or backup your apps and settings before you perform the firmware update.

After update, this is how your screen will look like. Note that the icons in the middle bar is fully user configurable.

If you want to add in Google Play Store, which is not included in this version of firmware, you can download the Gapp_V2.exe installation file here.

Put the file in a Windows computer within the same local network with your HiMedia TV box. Make sure your HiMedia TV box is switched on, then execute Gapp_V2.exe from your Windows computer.

The password is "newer1".

When prompted, key in the IP address of your HiMedia TV box, and press . Don't worry if you can't see the Chinese words on the console box, you just need to key in the right IP address, and Google Play Store should be installed to your HiMedia TV box when the process ended.

If you want to install YouTube, search for "YouTube for TV" in your Google Play Store.

Obtain read and write access to Linux ext4 partition from Windows using Paragon ExtFS

If you have an SD card or an external harddisk or any other storage which is formatted in Linux native ext2/ext3/ext4 partition, and you want to mount and have full read/write access to it from Windows, here is the solution! Better still, it is free for personal use!

Paragon ExtFS for Windows is a small utility that enable you to gain both the read and write access to ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems, which is not recognized nor accessible by stock Windows OS.

This is particularly useful when you want to use your Windows computer to read, write, delete, rename, move, or copy file in your SD card or external harddisk or any other storage that is formatted with the ext2/ext3/ext4 file system.

You can download Paragon ExtFS for Windows here.

You need to register on their website in order to obtain the Product Key and Serial Number required during installation. Don't worry, this product is free for personal use, and the information will be emailed to you without any charge.

When it is running, by can automatically detect the partition with the ext2/ext3/ext4 file system, and by default will auto-mount it as a storage drive.

The drive will be seamlessly accessible by Windows.

Note that Windows detected my 16GB SD Card with Ext4 file system and assigned it to Drive E. However, Drive E is inaccessible, and Windows will ask you to format it if you try to access to it, resulting in total data lost if you choose to format it to a Windows recognizable file system (FAT32/NTFS/exFAT).

Paragon ExtFS mounted it as Drive F, which is fully accessible just like other drives.

When you right click on Drive F and look into its Properties, you will notice that its file system is shown as DOKAN.

You can click here to learn more about the Dokan file system driver.

Updated the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop to Version 38

I have just updated the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop from Version 31 to Version 38.

You can download the latest BIOS update utility of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro from their support website here.

Beside BIOS update, you can also download the driver update files from that website as well.

The BIOS update is pretty straightforward. Make sure that the battery level of the laptop is at least 80%, and it is plugged on to the AC power supply. Then, run the BIOS Update Utility.

 

 

The new BIOS will be flashed with the InsydeFlash utility from Windows 8.1. After that, the system will reboot itself, and the BIOS update will be performed.

You will eventually reach to a state that the keyboard backlit of the laptop is on, and the screen is blank. Wait for a while, then long press the power key of the laptop to switch it off. When you switch it on again, the new BIOS is now up and running.

There is no data lost for this BIOS update. Even the BIOS settings and passwords remain after the update.

Updated my HTC One (M7) to Android 4.4.3 (KitKat) with Sense 6.0

My HTC One (M7) received its OTA update from Android 4.4.2 (KitKat) to Android 4.4.3 (KitKat) yesterday (24 August 2014).

It seems that this update focuses on security fixes, particularly the fix for OpenSSL vulnerabilities (Heartbleed Bug and some other bugs).

Visually, there is no noticeable change from the previous version. The Software Information section in the phone informs us that:

• Android version updated from 4.4.2 to 4.4.3
• HTC Sense version updated from 5.5 to 6.0
• Software number updated from 4.20.707.6 to 6.13.707.1
• HTC SDK API level updated from 5.69 to 6.25
• Kernel version remains as 3.4.10

How to get into the BIOS Setup Utility screen of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop

In order to get into the BIOS Setup Utility screen of Lenovo Ideapad series of laptops, you need to locate for a button called the Novo Button on the laptop.

In the case of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro ultrabook, this Novo button is a small round button located beside the Power button.

While is laptop is powered off, press and hold this Novo button for a few seconds, and you should be able to see the Novo Button Menu with 4 options:

• Normal Startup
• BIOS Setup
• Boot Menu
• System Recovery

Select the 2nd option namely "BIOS Setup" and press . There you are, the BIOS Setup Utility screen of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro!

In this BIOS Setup Utility, you can view some of the hardware information of the laptop, including its serial number. Most importantly, you can setup the BIOS passwords (administrator and user) and also the harddisk password here as a basic security measure to protect the data in your laptop.