Importing contacts from SIM card to Samsung Galaxy Tab

If you are switching phone to Samsung Galaxy Tab, and have stored your contacts used in your previous handphone into the SIM card, you can import those contacts in your SIM card to the Contacts application of Samsung Galaxy Tab.

Here is the way to do it.

Step 1: Open the Contacts application in your Samsung Galaxy Tab by tapping the Contacts icon as shown below.

Alternatively, you can also open the Phone application and select the Contacts tab to reach the same place.

Step 2: Press the Menu key (the 1st of the 4 keys below Samsung Galaxy Tab) and select Import/Export.

Step 3: Select "Import from SIM card", then select Save contact to "Device".

Step 4: The list of contacts in the SIM card will be shown on screen. Press the Menu key again and select  "Copy to device" to duplicate the contacts to the phone, or select "Move to device" to move the contacts from SIM card to the phone (after moving, original contacts will be removed from SIM card).

Note that you also have the option to delete unwanted contacts in SIM card here with the Delete option.

Step 5: You will be given the option to select the contacts you want to copy or move. If you want to select all, then just choose "Select All".

Step 6: Tap on the "Done" button below and the import will be performed.

When the action finished, you can press the Back key (the 3rd key) to return to Contacts.

Perhaps you already figured out how to export contacts from Samsung Galaxy Tab to SIM card. The process is similar, just that you select "Export to SIM card" instead of "Import from SIM card" during Step 3.

Apple iPad is entitled to LHDN personal income tax relief but not Samsung Galaxy Tab

In reference to Paragraph 46(1)(j) of Malaysian Income Tax Act 1967, an amount limited to a maximum of RM3,000 is deductible in respect of the purchase of non-business use personal computer for individual tax payer.

This deduction is allowed once in 3 years, but no deduction will be granted if the computer is used for business purpose.

Now, the question: are tablet computers such as Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Viewsonic ViewPad 7, Toshiba Folio 100, CSL Spice Mi700 DroidPad, Blackberry Playbook, ZTE V9, etc. entitled for this personal income tax relief?
 
I have asked this question to LHDN, and the official answer is: if the tablet computer only have computer features and is for home and family use only, then it will be treated as "computer" and is entitled to the personal income tax relief of up to RM3,000, claimable once in 3 years.
 
This will be the case for Apple iPad, Toshiba Folio 100 and Blackberry Playbook. Let's say you purchased an Apple iPad 64GB with Wifi+3G at the price of RM2,599 in year 2010, and your tax rate is 24%, when you file your 2010 personal income tax now, you can claim back RM2,599 tax relief, which is equilvalent to a saving of RM623.76 in your income tax. (If you have any family member or friend or colleague who purchased Apple iPad recently, please forward this good news to them using the "Share" button below.)
 
However, if the tablet computer also have handphone features in addition to computer features, which mean you can make phone calls and also send SMS/MMS using the telco service with the tablet, then it will be treated as a "phone" and is not entitled to personal income tax relief. This is the case for Samsung Galaxy Tab, Viewsonic ViewPad 7, CSL Spice Mi700 DroidPad, ZTE V9, etc. Bad news.
 
If you need to verify this information, can make a call to LHDN at 1300-88-3010 or email to callcentre@hasil.gov.my.

Best deal to buy original Samsung Galaxy Tab in Malaysia

Samsung Galaxy Tab is a 7" tablet computer, smaller than the 9" Apple iPad and larger than the 5" Dell Streak,  with full phone feature and dual camera.

It was first officially introduced to Malaysia by Maxis with the following data plan commitment packages:

• 12 month: RM1,849
• 24 month: RM1,749

However, right now Maxis has already removed Samsung Galaxy Tab from their range of bundled smart phone packages.

Beside Maxis, Digi is selling it with the following data plan commitment packages:

• 12 month: RM1,849
• 24 month: RM1,599

And before 28 January 2011, Celcom is selling it with the following data plan commitment packages:

• 12 month: RM1,738
• 18 month: RM1,668

After 28 January 2011, now Celcom has reduced its price to:

• 12 month: RM1,568
• 18 month: RM1,498

SenQ is also selling Samsung Galaxy Tab. Although the price is slightly higher, you don't need to tie up with any data plan, and you can use your credit card to pay by installment. There is also extended warranty period up to 3 years. The current price:

• Non-Citibank member: RM2,199 (free RM50 Chinese New Year voucher)
• Citibank credit card: RM2,099

Therefore, right now the best deal to buy original Samsung Galaxy Tab in Malaysia seems to be:

• RM1,498 with Celcom Exec 50 + mBasic 1GB data plan (18 month contract period)
• RM2,099 in SenQ, pay by Citibank credit card (no need data plan commitment, 3 years warranty, 36 months installment period)

Recently, Celcom and Digi has signed a partnership to share their telco infrastructure. Therefore, we can expect that either you are with Celcom or with Digi, the 2G/2.5G/3G data service quality and availability will be the same after this sharing of telco infrastructure.

Asia Trader & Investor Convention (ATIC) @ KL 2011

The annual Asia's largest trader and investor event, Asia Trader & Investor Convention (ATIC) 2011 is coming.

Date: 2-3 April 2011
Time: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC, Malaysia
Fees: RM28 for 2 days entry ticket

ATIC has travelled to 7 Asian Cities, i.e., Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Mumbai, Shenzhen and Tokyo. With participation by over 300 financial services companies, including securities exchanges, retail and consumer banks, securities brokerage firms, asset/fund management firms, listed companies and other financial services providers, the events have attracted over 100,000 active traders and serious investors across Asia.
ATIC Kuala Lumpur 2011 is targetted to feature more than 40 seminars conducted by international and local gurus and experts.

I noticed that the ATIC ticket price keeps on increasing every year. In 2009, it is free. Last year, there was an early bird price of RM18. This year, no news about early bird price yet.

Click here for more information about ATIC at KL 2011.

IPv4 will be used up really soon. Are we ready for IPv6?

The IP address in the format of XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX (i.e. IPv4) which is the basic identification of every device connected to the Internet is predicted to be fully allocated (used up) on the estimated date of 2 February 2011. Take a look at the ticking counter of IPv4 exhaustion here.

The current IPv4 address space is a 32 bit field, possible for 4,294,967,296 (4.29 billion) allocations. It is used by all network devices connected using the TCP/IP protocol, including computers, mobile devices, network devices, certain telecommunication devices, certain electrical appliances, and everything connected to the Internet with TCP/IP.

IPv4 started around 1980. By that time, only a handfull of computers, mostly in military and academic institutions (i.e. universities) are connected to the Internet and linked up with TCP/IP. The allocation of IPv4 accelerated in the 1990's when the whole world are connected to the Internet. Its exhaustion rate spurred further in the 2000's when not only computers and network devices are connected to the Internet, but also many other electrical and electronic devices, especially the mobile phones.

As a result, now we are very close to the end. All the 4.29 billion IP addresses will be fully used, and will not be sufficient for every devices that need to connect to the Internet anymore.

Various measures have been taken to slow down the exhaustion, such as special allocation for private IP address blocks (10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, and 172.16.x.x – 172.31.x.x) so that devices not directly connected to the Internet can make use of these private IP addresses, and they can share a same Internet IP address with NAT translation at the gateway/router.

The exhaustion of IPv4 has already taken into account for these kind of measures. It should have come even earlier if without private IP address and NAT in place nowadays.

In fact, the Internet authorities have thought about this issue long time ago, and have planned for the migration to the next generation of IP address system, namely IPv6. In fact, one of my project assignment during university studies in mid-1990's is about IPv6. Therefore, you should know that the research on IPv6 has been around for more than 10 years.

IPv6 uses a 128-bit address, whereas IPv4 uses only 32 bits. The new address space supports unlimited address allocation (3.4 x 10^38). With this much amount of IP addresses available, it also eliminates the need for NAT, and every devices can have their Internet IP address, just like the scenario for IPv4 before the introduction of NAT.

The IPv6 format will look like this: XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:XXXX:YYYY:YYYY:YYYY:YYYY, where the first 4 groups (XXXX part) is a 64-bit network prefix, and the last 4 groups (YYYY part) is a 64-bit host address. All the digits are in hexadecimal.

It is reported that big Internet players including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Akamai, Limelight Networks, etc. will have a 24-hour test run on IPv6 during the World IPv6 Day on 8 June 2011. Click here to read more about World IPv6 Day.

We have to move on. Are we ready for IPv6? (Especially service providers, device manufacturers, software developers, network engineers, ...)

Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates for renovation in year 2011, which 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.

If you are going to renovate your house, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out some of my sharing there.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011 
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
  

Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2011 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.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Using symbolic link for Dropbox to sync files/folders in any location of the computer

As I mentioned before, Dropbox is a fantastic service to sync, backup, share and publish our files over the Internet. It provides free Cloud storage between 2GB-10GB and many prefer Dropbox than Windows Live Mesh 2011 for more flexibility and interoperability.

However, the files/folders must reside in the local Dropbox folder in order for them to be able to sync, backup, share and/or publish with Dropbox service.

Anyhow, it is easy to sync the folders outside Dropbox folder, with the use of symbolic link (a.k.a. symlink or softlink).

Note: Symbolic link is not available in Windows 2003, Windows XP or earlier, but you can use Junction to serve the same purpose. You can download the Junction.exe utility made available by SysInternals here.

Example: To let Dropbox to sync the folder C:\Users\Public\Documents in Windows.

Step 1: Run Command Prompt with Administrator rights. The Administrator rights is required to make symbolic link in Windows Vista or Windows 7.

To do this, click on Start logo, expand All programs > Accesories and right click on Command Prompt. Then select "Run as administrator".

Step 2: Move the entire folder into your Dropbox folder.

C:> move C:\Users\Public\Documents C:\Users\Myself\Dropbox

Step 3: Create a directory symbolic link (or junction for Win XP/2000/2003) at the original location to link to the folder which moved into Dropbox folder.

For Win Vista or Win 7 or above:

C:> mklink /d C:\Users\Public\Documents C:\Users\Myself\Dropbox\Documents


Note: The "/d" option is for making directory/folder link. Otherwise, the command will create a file link.

For Win XP or Win 2003 or below:

C:> junction C:\Users\Public\Documents C:\Users\Myself\Dropbox\Documents

You are done. Now, the Documents is synchronized in your Dropbox account, at the same time, you can still access it from its original location as normal.
 
Example: To let Dropbox to sync the folder /home/Myself/Documents in Linux/Unix.
 
Step 1: Open the Terminal window if you are in X-Window. For Ubuntu, it is in Applications > Accesories > Terminal.
 
Step 2: Move the entire folder into your Dropbox folder.


$ mv /home/Myself/Documents /home/Dropbox/Documents
 
If you don't have write permission in /home/Dropbox directory, you might want to use chmod to set the permission correctly, or use sudo to perform the move with root permission.
 
$ sudo mv /home/Myself/Documents /home/Dropbox/Documents


Step 3: Create a directory symbolic link at the original location to link to the folder which moved into Dropbox folder. Note that for Linux/Unix, the position of the source and target in the link command argument is the other way round.
 
$ ln -s /home/Dropbox/Documents /home/Myself/Documents
 
Note: The "-s" option is for softlink creation. Otherwise, the command will create a hardlink.
 
You are done.

Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates in year 2011 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.

Note that 14 February 2011 which is the Saint Valentine's day, is also one of the auspicious dates in the list. Hence it is auspicious to register for marriage on that day, except for couple which either one of them was born in the year of Horse. 25 December 2011 which is the Christmas day is also in the list.

Other interesting auspicious datea are 11 January 2011, which can be written as 11-1-11, and 1 November 2011, which can be writeen as 1-11-11.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011 
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Facebook going to shutdown on 15 March 2011? True or not?

I believe by now you might have gotten the shocking message saying that Mark Zuckerberg announced in a so-called "press conference outside his Palo Alto office" announcing the shutdown of his popular social network website Facebook on 15 March 2011 as "managing the site has become too stressful".

Are you concerned?

Well, I believe the possibility for this to really happen is only 0.5%, and 99.5% chance for it to be a hoax.

Why I say so?

• If it is really announced in a press conference, this news is not likely to be only reported by a single not-so-famous website (originator). Perhaps that website intended to gain publicity by starting this kind of rumours.
• Although Facebook is not public listed, it has quite a number of investors and shareholders, and Mark Zuckerberg only holds about a quarter of the total shares. As such, Mark Zuckerberg cannot simply end the business of Facebook for whatever reason, without nods from the other shareholders and investors.
• There is no such official announcement in Facebook website at all.

Anyhow, think about it, if Facebook is really to be gone, how are you going to be affected then? If you really can't live without it, this is really an alarming sign. Beware...

Online checking your election voting area registered in electoral roll database

This is not something new to Malaysian, but just a reminder for voting citizen who has already registered with the Election Commission (Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya, SPR) that you can check your election voting area registered in the electoral roll database online.

The latest URL for the electoral roll checking website is http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/.

Just key in your IC number, and the system will show your basic information, registered locality, polling district, state assembly,  parliamentary and state info.

This online checking is useful for you to confirm your area, and in case you wish to change your voting area, now might still have the opportunity to get it done before the next election come.

Sadly, there is no privacy measure in that website, and if you know any IC number, you can actually find out the person's name, gender, birth date and electoral roll information as well.

31 Dec 2010 declared as Malaysia public holiday after winning the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup football match

Hot news!

The Malaysian squad has just beaten Indonesian team on 4-2 aggregate in the final of 2010 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup held at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

As a result, PM has declared 31 December 2010 (Friday) as Malaysia public holiday.

Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011

I have just posted the list of auspicious dates for opening business in 2011. And for employees, especially those in leading/managing position, here is a list of auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu.

It can be applied to first day reporting to new company/department/office/position, go 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.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates for opening business in year 2011, 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.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011 
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011

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 2011 (year of Rabbit), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

The dates highlighted in pink are considered even more auspicious.

You might aware that the Saint Valentine's day which fall on 14 February 2011 is among the auspicious dates. Other interesting dates include Women's Day on 8 March 2011 and 11 November 2011 (11-11-11).

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.

Good luck in getting your right life partner.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates in 2011 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 house warming, open house, home party, gathering, and any other similar functions to meet up with friends and/or relatives.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2011

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 2011, which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Note that there is no particular auspicious date for baby first haircut in January and February of 2011.

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 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in year 2011, 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 going to move to a new home, don't forget to visit the "home idea" section of my blog to find out my sharing on mortgage, renovation, furnitures, electrical appliances, pest control, etc.

Related articles:

• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012

I have posted the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012 recently, and here is the reverse, namely the inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012. 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 2013
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2012
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2012
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2012
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2012
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2012
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2012
• Auspicious dates in 2012 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2012

Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012

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 2012 (year of Dragon), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

Note that there are 2 forth month (润四月) in the lunar year during 2012.

You might aware that the mid-autumn day which fall on 30 September 2012 is among the auspicious dates. That day will have the brightest and biggest full moon of the year and is a Sunday.

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 2013
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2012
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2012
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2012
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut (Mundan) in 2012
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2012
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2012
• Auspicious dates in 2012 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2012

Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011

I have posted the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2011 recently, and here is the reverse, namely the inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2011. 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 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2011

Here is the list of auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in year 2011 (year of Rabbit), which is produced based on the Chinese almanac Tong Shu. (Click the image to enlarge)

The dates highlighted in pink are considered even more auspicious.

You might aware that the mid-autumn day which fall on 12 September 2011 is among the auspicious dates. That day will have the brightest and biggest full moon of the year. Another interesting date is Christmas Eve which fall on 24 December 2011 and is a Saturday.

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 2011
• Auspicious dates for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Inauspicious dates to avoid for wedding/marriage in 2012
• Auspicious dates for moving to new house/office in 2011
• Auspicious dates for baby first haircut in 2011
• Auspicious dates for house warming, open house, party, gathering, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates for marriage proposal or engagement in 2011
• Auspicious dates for opening business in 2011
• Auspicious dates for starting new job/post/assignment in 2011
• Auspicious dates for signing contract, register for marriage, etc. in 2011
• Auspicious dates in 2011 for getting a baby
• Auspicious dates for renovation in 2011

SunCity and Sunway to merge into single entity

After SunCity (6289) and Sunway (4308) suspended for 2 trading days awaiting for this announcement, the Sunway Group has proposed to buy over SunCity (Sunway City Berhad / 双威城) and Sunway (Sunway Holdings Berhad / 双威控股) with a private company called Sunway Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by the same boss Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling (谢富年).

After the merger, the new company (newco) will be relisted.

It is proposed that:

• SunCity to be bought over at the price of RM5.10 per share, a premium of RM0.61 (13.59%) to its last closing price of RM4.49.
• SunCity-WA to be bought over at the price of RM1.29 per warrant, a premium of RM0.17 (15.18%) to its last closing price of RM1.12.
• Sunway to be bought over at the price of RM2.60 per share, a premium of RM0.35 (15.56%) to its last closing price of RM2.25.
•  Sunway-WC to be bought over at the price of RM1.50 per warrant, a premium of RM0.36 (31.58%) to its last closing price of RM1.14.

Existing shareholders and warrant-holders will get:

• Newco shares at the new listing price of RM2.80 representing 80% of the offer price.
• Cash representing 20% of the offer price.
• 1 free Newco warrant for every 5 Newco shares. Exercise period for the Newco warrant is 5 years.

With this information, and assuming that you are currently holding 1000 unit of the share or warrant of SunCity and/or Sunway, I have done a quick calculation of what you will get from this exercise.

What you will get are all the things in the last 3 columns. I think the free Newco warrant will have an initial listing price of RM0.005 and it is up to the market to give it a value during its 1st trading day.

The bad thing is, you will probably have some odd lots of NewCo and NewCo-WA after the exercise.

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.

The end of Novell

Novell, once being extremely famous with their NetWare Operating System, and also being the pioneer in Directory Service architecture, and later shifted focus to SUSE Linux, is now going to be sold to a not so well-known company - Attachmate.

The deal worth US$2.2 billion, or $6.10 per share.


Attachmate said it plan to operate Novell as 2 divisions:

• SUSE Linux
• The rest of Novell, including the ZENworks virtualization software and other networking solutions 

Beside that, Novell is also going to sell some of its intellectual property assets to CPTN Holdings, a Microsoft-organized consortium. The deal worth another US$450 million.

With this acquisition, here come the end of Novell, once a technology giant with excellent products, but failed to compete with rivals such as Microsoft (NetWare vs Windows Server), Red Hat (SuSe vs Redhat Linux), etc.

Garmin releases MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.40 for free update

Garmin has made available MalSingMaps (MSM) Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.40 (2010-Q4) for free update now.

You can click here to download the installation file of MalSingMaps Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei NT 2010.40 from Garmin server. The download file is split into 4, and you just need to download the file relevant to your Garmin GPS navigator:

• nuvi 3790
• nuvi 1460, 1350, 765 or 255w
• nuvi 1250
• nuvi 205 or 205w

Due to this improvement, the installation file is much more smaller than the previous version. For example, the installation file for nuvi 255w is now 237MB only (compared with previous version's 743MB)

The installation program will update gmapprom1.img, gmapprom1.unl, gmap3d.img and SGMYMAL.JCV into your Garmin GPS navigator. As nuvi 255w doesn't support 3D maps, if you are installing to this model, gmap3d.img will automatically be removed during the end of the installation process.

During the installation process, you'll be asked for the unlock key. The key is stored in the existing gmapprom1.unl file in your Garmin GPS navigator, which you can open with Notepad or any text editor. Just copy and paste the key to the installer when asked.

Version highlights:

• Update Traffic Message Channel in Singapore
• DPOI of Singapore
• Add more POIs, postal code data and laneinfo of Singapore
• Extended road shield of Singapore & Malaysia
• Trails are built into the map
• Road Signs value-added
• Synchronize to Malsingmaps v5.00
• Extending more Junction Views for complex intersection around Malaysia

Surprisingly, this version has a smaller SGMYMAL.JCV file of size 217,747kb only (compared with the previous 352,764kb), but it contains more Junction View pictures and more lane assist triggers.

It seems that the Garmin release of MSM has improved a lot over the year. However, I still prefer using MalFreeMaps (MFM) as the later contains much more POIs and also able to provide more precise route to the destination.

Fabulous Food 1Malaysia 2010 in conjunction with Deliciously 1Malaysia

For the 2nd year, the Malaysian restaurant food festival and cooking competition namely Fabulous Food 1Malaysia 2010 (一个大马。食全食美) held in conjunction with Deliciously 1Malaysia carnival is coming again.

Fabulous Food 1Malaysia 2010 is all about food. It brings together F&B businesses, restaurateurs, tourists and consumers in celebration and recognition of Malaysia's sumptuous spread of local and international culinary delights during the festive seasons, reinforcing Malaysia as a gourmet paradise to savor fine cuisines and food delicacies.

Date: 17-19 December 2010
Time: 10:30 am - 8.00 pm
Venue: Tun Razak Hall 1, PWTC, Kuala Lumpur
Admission: Free

This event is presented by Ministry of Tourism, organized by The Malaysia Selangor and Federal Territory Ku Su Shin Choong Hung Restaurant Association (马来西亚雪隆姑苏慎忠行餐饮业公会) and co-organized by The Federation of Hawkers and Petty Traders Association of Malaysia (马来西亚贩商同业总会). It is ambitiously targetted for 120,000 visitors from local and overseas.


150 exhibition booths will be setup, and there will be cooking competitions, restaurant showcases, cooking demonstrations, food acrobats, etc.

According to statistic, 2008 tourist spending on F&B in Malaysia stood at 8.77 billion and increased to 9.29 billion in 2009.

Click here to go to the website of Fabulous Food 1Malaysia 2010.

The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) - A Roadmap for Malaysia

Resulting from the results and targets of the 1,000-person workshop and 500-person laboratories orchestrated by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), Najib has launched the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP): A Roadmap for Malaysia on 25 October 2010.

The ETP contains action plans, hopefully will transform Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020. This is charted by lifting Malaysia’s gross national income (GNI) per capita from US$6,700 (RM23,700) in 2009 to more than US$15,000 (RM48,000) in 2020. In order to achieve this target, GNI need to continuously grow at the rate of at least 6% per annum.

The ETP is planned to be driven by 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) announced in the 10th Malaysia Plan, which are:

• Oil, Gas and Energy
• Palm Oil
• Financial Services
• Tourism
• Business Services
• Electronics and Electrical
• Wholesale and Retail
• Education
• Healthcare
• Communications Content and Infrastructure
• Agriculture
• Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley

It seems that areas ruled by MPSJ, including Subang Jaya, USJ, Bandar Sunway, Puchong, Kinrara, Seri Kembangan, etc. will be at the heart of Greater KL, and hopefully will be greatly benefited from the plan.

However, the planned MRT system under Greater KL, where the Red Line linking Damansara to Serdang, and the Green Line linking Kepong to Kajang, seems to have bypassed the heart!

Under the ETP, 131 Entry Point Projects (EPP) and and 60 Business Opportunities (BO) were planned, spanning across the 12 NKEAs. They include:

• Expanding the production of swiftlet bird nests (燕窝)
• Seaweed farming in Sabah
• Mushroom project
• Establishing dairy clusters in Malaysia
• Growing aviation support services
• Building globally-competitive outsourcing services
• Data centre and green technology
• Islamic financial services
• Launching EduCity @ Iskandar
• Solid state lighting (SSL)
• Home appliances and semi-conductors
• Solar energy
• Developing health metropolis
• Connecting to Singapore via a high-speed rail system
• Deploying nuclear energy for power generation
• Building a regional oil storage and trading hub
• e-Healthcare, e-Learning and e-Government
• Positioning Malaysia as a duty free shopping destination for tourist goods
• etc.

Click here to go to the download page of The Economic Transformation Programme: A Roadmap for Malaysia

A furniture stock called LIIHEN

There are plenty of furniture stocks listed in Bursa Malaysia, including the recently listed HOMERITZ. Most of them are majoritically doing export business, and hence, furniture stocks are known to be cyclical and buoyed by the worldwide economic sentiment.

You would probably not be interested in furniture stock at the moment, especially when the Ringgit is going high against USD, which is not so good for export industries. However, there is one called LIIHEN (7089, 利兴) which attracted my attention.

Located in Muar the "furniture town" in Johor, Lii Hen has been around for decades since 1985, and now their furniture plants spans across an area if approximately 30 acres, undertake the full range of wood-based manufacturing activities from timber processing up to manufacturing and packaging of finished goods.

This is their corporate structure:

The boss, Mr Chua Lee Seng (蔡利成) has been active in local, state as well as national level of furniture associations, and has taken significant roles including executive advisor of Muar Furniture Association, president of Federation of Johore Furniture Manufacturers & Traders Association, etc.

Lii Hen was first listed in 2nd Board in April 2000, and transferred to Main Board in 2002. Most of the time, Lii Hen was a dull counter, except once been "goreng" around October 2004. However, it shows remarkable fundamental improvement since 2009, despite the global economic downturn.

As you can see, from 2009 onwards, its EPS surges, boosting its ROE to above 15%. And then, Lii Hen paid dividend every single quarter. If this is sustainable, it would become a dividend stock too.

Note that there was a fire incident on 28 October 2009 night at one of their main premises, and it was covered by insurance. The fire caused the total loss of buildings, inventories, plant & machinery and factory equipments amounted to RM8.3 million. The fire had caused lost of sales in 2009 Q4, and you can see that quarter has some figures gone red in the table above.

Anyhow, Lii Hen started to show better result a few months prior to the fire incident. After the fire, they promptly recovered and resume the up-trend again, as the disruption of the production capacity due to the fire incident occurred in the preceding quarter had been fully restored at rented premises in 2010 Q1. You see another red in the net profit of 2010 Q2 "due to the erosion of profit margin resulting from the depreciation of USD against RM".

Based on its closing price of RM1.23 on 9 November 2010, and using the figure of its rolling quarter:

• PE = 1.23/0.35 = 3.51
• DY = 0.145/1.23 = 12%

That's why it attracted my attention.

Click here to visit the website of LIIHEN.

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.

How to make your boss like you

The November 2010 issue of Personal Money magazine has an article titled "9 Ways To Get Into Your Boss' Good Books" which I believe is very advisable for all employee to read, understand and practise in order to excel in their career.

The 9 tips to let your boss like you are:

• Make your boss look good
• Understand your boss
• Understand your boss' expectations and do more than is expected of you
• Provide solutions rather than problems
• Working independently on the job
• Make your time count
• Communicate with your boss
• Watch your code of conduct
• Showing positivism in your life and work

Beside that, the following are something usually done by employee to please their boss, but might not work at all:

• Trying to look productive but nothing is happening
• Making your boss look good in the wrong way
• Tripod-ding and apple-polishing
• Working overly independent of your boss

For detailed explanation of all the above points, grab yourself a copy of November 2010 Personal Money magazine and read through page 59-61.

Using Dropbox service to sync, backup, share and publish files

Nowadays most of us have more than one computing devices - desktop, laptop, netbook, smartphone, tablet (eg. iPad), etc.

It would be nice if we can seamlessly synchronize some of our commonly accessed data files across those computing devices, so that the file will store in each (or some) of them, and always be accessible to us regardly we are at home, at work, at other place, or even on the road.

If the file is updated by us in one of the computing devices, we would like the same file storing in our other computing devices to also be updated to the latest. Technically, we call this as "synchronize" or "sync".

Dropbox is among the services that can answer that need. It uses cloud computing technology to enable users to store and share files and folders across the Internet with synchronization.

Data transmission of Dropbox is encrypted with SSL, and data stored in Dropbox cloud service is encrypted with AES-256. Dropbox uses Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for storage, which is the same cloud backend storage used by Ubuntu One.

One of the advantage of Dropbox is it supports multiple platform, including Windows, Macintosh, Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.), Android devices, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, etc.

All files stored in Dropbox cloud storage are automatically backup. You have the option to undelete the files in your Dropbox folder. If you make changes to the files, you can also retrieve back earlier version of the files. For free account, Dropbox keeps 30 days of your files undo history. You can opt to have unlimited undo history by subscribing to their Pack-Rat service.

Beside synchronizing files and folders among your own computing devices, you can also share out one or more folders in your Dropbox with other Dropbox user(s). You control who to share the folder with by inviting them with a special link, and the invitee has to Accept your invitation to initiate the sharing.

There is no special ACL in Dropbox sharing. Everybody who is sharing the folder can make changes in that folder. Anyhow, all the changes will be versioned and kept in history, and can be undone if necessary. In the event 2 or more persons are editing the same file in the shared folder, Dropbox will save the file in different filename to avoid overwriting.

Once you installed Dropbox, you'll notice there are 2 default special folders automatically created - Public and Photos. Files and folders resided in the Public folder can be shared out even to non-Dropbox users. This is made possible as the file there is accessible with a unique special URL, which you can disclose in email, instant message conversations, blogs, etc. However, the files will not be searcheable by search engine like Google.

The sharing concept of the Photos folder is similar to Public. In addition to that, Photos sharing enables you to have an online gallery of your shared photos with unique special URL to each of the folders inside as individual Album.

Dropbox provides 3 account options. The Basic account is free, and started with 2GB online storage. The other 2 are paid Pro account with 50GB or 100GB online storage.

The Basic account storage is expandable for another 8GB up to a total of 10GB by:

• Creating your account with a referal link (add 250MB once you installed your Dropbox client)
• Inviting your friends to create their own Dropbox account (add 250MB each after they've installed their Dropbox client)
• Becoming a Dropbox Guru (add 250MB, refer to the "Get Started" tab in your Dropbox web interface)

Microsoft has just released Windows Live Mesh 2011 (after long period of beta of Live Mesh, Windows Live Sync and Windows Live FolderShare) with similar function and providing 5GB free online storage in SkyDrive. However, Windows Live Mesh 2011 does not support Linux. Worse still, it also does not support Windows XP and earlier version of Windows. Currently, it also doesn't support any mobile devices.

Therefore, if you are upset with the limitation of Windows Live Mesh 2011, perhaps Dropbox is your alternative.

Click here to open your free Dropbox account with 2.250 GB free initial Cloud storage.

Click here for a list of interesting Dropbox Addons. For example, Dropbox Folder Sync can make your live easier to sync folders into Dropbox, and they can still reside in their original location. This is useful for you to sync your IE Favorites, Firefox Profiles, etc.

Playing chess games with my Dell SX2210T multi-touch monitor

I realized that touch screen monitors such as my Dell SX2210T is pretty useful when using applications that requires a lot of point and click/tap actions. A typical example of such application is computer games.

I like to play chess games and card games, either with human or with computer AI.

Windows 7 Home Premium (and above) comes with a pretty nice game called Chess Titans. Its AI isn't that strong and you can easily defeat the computer.

Beside Western Chess, I also like to play Chinese chess. There is an open source Chinese chess game for Windows called Qianhong (浅红) by Jeremy Craner, which you can download here.

The GUI of Qianhong isn't great at all, but I care more about its features. Qianhong supports severate modes of playing including human-human, human-computer, and computer-computer. It also supports playing across the network.

Its 3-level AI is pretty weak not challenging at all. However, Qianhong supports AI plugins which you can download from their website, including 10-level Ki11egg AI by Tzer-jen Wei, 5-level VSCCPW by Pham Hong Nguyen, 5-level ElephantEye by Morning Yellow, etc.

By using the computer-computer mode, you can let the same or different AI of same or different level to compete between themselves, and you be the observer to learn their tactics.

Another free Chinese chess game I like is XieXie Master (谢谢大师) by Pascal Tang.

XieXie Master has a better looking GUI than Qianhong, but it doesn't have computer-computer mode. However, it has features that Qianhong doesn't have, including "handicap", etc.

MyConstitution Campaign (Kempen PerlembagaanKu)

MyConstitution Campaign (Kempen PerlembagaanKu) is an initiative by the Bar Council's Constitutional Law Committee to simplify the Federal Constitution of Malaysia so that it can reach out to the general public.

The committee is formed to:

• Promote the concept of constitutionalism and the rule of just law;
• Raise awareness of, and educate the rakyat on provisions of the Federal Constitution and thereby to empower the rakyat; 
• Document and respond to constitutional issues that arise; and
• Conduct research on matters relating to the Federal Constitution and/or State Constitutions and where necessary, make recommendations for constitutional reform.

It is important for us to understand the Federal Constitution, as it is the most important document in our country which determines what kind of country we live in.

As part of the initiative, the committee has published a series of Rakyat Guides (RG) to explain the Federal Constitution in layman's terms (click the links to download/access).

• The Rakyat Guides #1: What is the Federal Constitution? [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #2: Constitutional Institutions & Separation of Powers
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #3: Federal – State Relations
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #4: Parliament
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #5: The Executive
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #6: The Judiciary
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• The Rakyat Guides #7: Sabah & Sarawak
  [Page 1] [Page 2] [Video Ads]
• 人民手冊 #1: 联邦宪法是什么 [第一页] [第二页]

Click here to visit the official website of MyConstitution (PerlembagaanKu)