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)

World Vision [Change A Life, Change Your Own] Campaign

There is a line from a well-known pop song which declares: "I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives." How true, indeed!

For many of us, life is all the more meaningful because of some kind act, word or touch from people we come across daily, some of whom are complete strangers to us. Indeed, history is full of extraordinary events created when ordinary people act.

World Vision Malaysia's latest campaign Change A Life, Change Your Own is a tribute to the 32,000 and more Malaysians who have acted and are bringing hope and joy to children and communities in need. More importantly, this campaign is about the journey of these individuals - how their respective lives were changed (and still are!) even as they seek to change the lives of those whom they are reaching out to help.

Change A Life, Change Your Own is about ordinary Malaysians from diverse backgrounds living extraordinary lives. Truly, it only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Campaign Kick-Off Roadshow
Date: 28-31 October 2010
Time: 10am - 10pm
Venue: 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Ground Floor, Promenade (in front of T.G.I. FRIDAY's restaurant)

Sharing sessions by child sponsors:

• 28/10 8pm: Mei Sim (云美鑫) - "More than raising my own children"
• 29/10 8pm: William Yap (叶伟良) - "There is no law in the joy of sharing lives"
• 30/10 2pm: Owen Yap (叶剑锋) - "People matter"
• 30/10 8pm: Niki Cheong - "Never too young to start changing lives"
• 31/10 12pm: Danell Lee (李桀汉) & William Lee (李威廷) - "A simple kind of happiness"
• 31/10 4pm: Roshan & Yise (罗忆诗) - "Changing 101 + 1 lives"

Click here to download the Child Sponsorship Flyer

You might probably be interested to also read about:

• I started sponsoring a child in Laos through World Vision