Just to share with you the following interesting write-up...
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A small truth to make life 100%
Friday, March 26, 2010
TM new High Speed Broadband (HSBB) UniFi packages
TM launched its High Speed Broadband (HSBB) service with brand name UniFi on 24 March 2010.
The UniFi network is an end-to-end all-fibre optic, all-Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure being built by TM to replace their older copper based telecommunications infrastructure.
UniFi is a bundled triple play service offering High Speed Internet, HyppTV (IPTV) and Voice service. There are 3 available packages for residential consumer and 3 packages for business.
Consumer (residential) packages:
- VIP5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM149/month
- VIP10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
- VIP20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM249/month
Product features:
- HyppTV Channels including RTM1, RTM2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV, TV9, Hikmah, Bernama TV, Australian Network, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle, CBeebies, Channel News Asia, Channel V Taiwan, DWTV, Euronews, Fashion TV, STAR Chinese Channel, STAR Chinese Movies, Travel Channel, LUXE TV, etc.
- Set-Top-Box
- 1x Streamyx Zone ID
- Dynamic IP address
- 2GB email space
- Call rates: free calls to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 10 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
- Free cordless phone
- Premise Gateway with Wireless N
Fair Usage Policy (FUP): Maximum 60GB (VIP5), 90GB (VIP10), 120GB (VIP20) download per month
These packages seem more attractive than their previously launched Blockbuster Deals.
Business packages:
- BIZ5 - up to 5Mbps upload and download speed, RM199/month
- BIZ10 - up to 10Mbps upload and download speed, RM599/month
- BIZ20 - up to 20Mbps upload and download speed, RM899/month
Product features:
- 1x Streamyx Zone ID
- Dynamic IP address for BIZ5, fixed IP address for BIZ10 and BIZ20
- 2GB email space
- Call rates: 5 sen/min to TM fixed lines nationwide, flat rate 15 sen/min to all mobiles and other fixed lines nationwide, normal IDD rate
- Free DECT cordless phone
- Premise Gateway with Wireless N
- Unlimited usage
- 10GB Web Hosting Basic with customized domain name
- 5GB e-Storage Basic
- Service level guarantee
Currently, UniFi only available in limited Klang Valley areas including Bangsar, Shah Alam, Subang and Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. Click here to check the UniFi roll out schedule to your area.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Top 10 IT priorities for 2010
In January 2010, CIO Magazine has conducted a survey among CIO.com visitors to gauge which technology areas IT professionals plan to focus on, and received respond from 405 IT decision makers involved in buying technology products and services for their organizations.
The 6 pages exclusive research report reveals the top 10 areas of interest that IT decision makers care about in 2010 are:
- Cloud computing
- Business process management
- Web 2.0 / social networking technologies
- Desktop/client virtualization
- Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
- Analytics
- Storage virtualization
- Enterprise data management
- Software as a Service (SaaS) and Web services
- Collaboration technologies
Click here to report the report of CIO Technology Priorities Survey (January 2010) for more detail.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 stable version released
After quite a long beta period, finally the stable version of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 is now officially released.
For those who haven't tried the Opera web browser for mobile devices, you should test it out. It is free, and most of the time it provides much better browsing experience as well as surfing speed than the original web browser that comes with your handphone.
To download Opera Mini 5 or Opera Mobile 10 to your handphone, simply make a visit to http://m.opera.com/ with your handphone, and the automated download and installation process should be initiated.
Opera Mini 5 is available on all Java-based handphones. Opera Mobile 10 is available on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60-based smartphones.
Here is how the new Opera Mini 5 screen looks like in my Sony Ericsson P1i.
And here is how this blog looks like when browsed with Opera Mini 5 (landscape mode).
When you tab on any area, it will enlarge that region, then the text and pictures will be readable.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Air fresheners might contain toxic substances
Do you use air freshner in your office? living room? bedroom? toilet? car?
A report from the Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) organization titled "Foul-smelling whiff from air fresheners!" alerted that air fresheners do not "purify" the ambient air, but on the contrary pollute it by releasing well-known toxic substances.
The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) and 5 of its member organisations had tested on 76 air fresheners products, and found out many contain:
- Formaldehyde and benzene - which could cause cancer in humans
- Acetaldehyde or styrene - that irritates the respiratory tract, allergens and potential carcinogens
- Toluene, chlorbenzene, glycol ethers, phthalates and artificial musk - all known to be dangerous to health
These products represent a real risk to health not only of allergy sufferers, asthmatics, pregnant or nursing women and children, but also to anyone using them continuously.
As a result, it is advisable not to use air fresheners to avoid exposure to those toxic substances. Perhaps air ionizer is a better alternative.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Malaysia UKM students win 1st place in eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition
The 1st place winner of eVolo Magazine's Skyscraper Competition in 2010 has been awarded to 3 architecture students from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Chow Khoon Toong, Ong Tien Yee, and Beh Ssi Cze. Congratulation!
As a background, this annual Skyscraper Competition recognizes outstanding ideas that redefine skyscraper design through the use of new technologies, materials, programs, aesthetics, and spatial organization.
This winning contest entry project examines the possibility of creating a vertical prison in the sky where inmates will have to work and live in a community that will contribute to the host city below. The prison will have agricultural fields, factories, and recyclable plants that will be operated by the offenders as a way to give back to the community. They will live “free” until they have completed their sentence and are prepared to rejoin their communities.
The vertical prison has its own transportation system which consists of different “pods” for officers, prisoners, firefighters, and other workers.
Click here to read more about the brilliant idea of Vertical Prison.
Also worth to mention is another Malaysian entry by architect Sarly Adre Bin Sarkum has also won the Special Mention prize in the same competition. His entry is "Water-Scraper: Underwater Architecture", which is a self sufficient structure designed to float on the ocean.
Click here to read more about the unique design of Water-Scraper.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010
Once again, The Edge and UOB Bank are organizing a real estate investment forum in Kuala Lumpur. This year, the theme is: "To buy or not to buy: Where to put your money?". Readers of The Edge can register now for free.
Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 9am - 1pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Centre, Bukit Kiara, KL
Interesting topics of discussion:
- Malaysian property market outlook in 2010 - Is the picture clearer?
- Valuation creation in property investment
- Panel discussion on "Property, REITs or property stocks?"
Click here for more information and online registration to The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2010.
Are you born to be a billionaire?
The Sunday Star dated 14 March 2010 reveiled an interesting finding from their "So you want to be a millionaire?" survey with YouthSays and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), which polled 1,678 people below the age of 30 thoughout Malaysia.
The finding: 96% of the respondents aspire to become millionaires, and 75% of them believe that they can achieve it by the age of 35! Wow!
If you haven't read about the report, here is the online version:
Here is a list of 13 self-assessment questions in a Forbes' article:
- Why Go Big at All? - What and where are your long-term goals?
- Can You See Around Corners? - What and where are your visions?
- Can You Tolerate and Manage Ambiguity? - Are you able to see through a jungle of conflicting data?
- Do You Prize Independence?
- Do You Have the Guts to Double-Down?
- Are You Inspired by Creativity or More Process-Oriented?
- Are You Willing to Make Tough Decisions For the Growth of the Company?
- Do You Like Speaking in Public?
- Are You a Consensus-Builder?
- Can You Delegate?
- If You Say You Need it On Your Desk By 9am, Will it Get Done?
- Can You Work on Christmas?
- Can You Deal with Isolation?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Top 10s in Universities Ranking on the Web (Jan 2010 Edition) by Webometrics
By now, results of SPM, STPM, GCE, UEC, etc. should have been released, and it is time for those secondary school graduates who want to further their study to look for university.
Tertiary education requires a lot of cost, several years of your lifespan, have material impact to your ideology, and might be an important factor for your career path. Therefore, it is important to choose the university wisely, and a worldwide universities ranking can be a good indicator for you.
The Webometrics World Universities' Ranking has coverage to more than 18,000 Higher Education Institutions worldwide. It summarizes the global performance of the university, provides information for candidate students and scholars, and reflects the commitment to the dissemination of scientific knowledge.
It is an initiative of the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group of the Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS), part of the National Research Council (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain.
Now, let's see some of the Top 10s from the results of Webometrics' Jan 2010 Edition of Universities Ranking.
Top 10 country/political region for tertiary education:
- 1. United States
- 2. United Kingdom
- 3. Germany
- 4. Canada
- 5. Taiwan
- 6. Sweden
- 7. Spain
- 8. Japan
- 9. Brazil
- 10. Netherlands
So, if you are Human Resource or manager in your company going to interview candidates graduated from one of the country/political region above, go ahead and challenge them with tougher questions. If they passed, offer them a higher pay.
World's Top 10 Universities:
- 1. Harvard University
- 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- 3. Stanford University
- 4. University of California Berkeley
- 5. Cornell University
- 6. University of Washington
- 7. University of Minnesota
- 8. Johns Hopkins University
- 9. University of Michigan
- 10. University of Wisconsin Madison
Click here to see the Top 8000 Universities of the world.
Top 10 Universities in Asia:
- 1. University of Tokyo, Japan (38)
- 2. Kyoto University, Japan (52)
- 3. National Taiwan University, Taiwan (63)
- 4. University of Hong Kong (128)
- 5. Chinese University of Hong Kong (130)
- 6. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel (133)
- 7. Keio University, Japan (136)
- 8. National University of Singapore (146)
- 9. National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan (153)
- 10. Nagoya University, Japan (161)
Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in Asia.
- 1. National University of Singapore (146)
- 2. Kasetsart University, Thailand (229)
- 3. Prince of Songkla University, Thailand (338)
- 4. Mahidol University, Thailand (381)
- 5. Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (398)
- 6. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (468)
- 7. Chiang Mai University, Thailand (478)
- 8. Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia (562)
- 9. Khon Kaen University, Thailand (567)
- 10. Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia (661)
Click here to see the Top 100 Universities in South East Asia.
Top 10 Universities in Malaysia:
- 1. Universiti Putra Malaysia (686)
- 2. Universiti Sains Malaysia (725)
- 3. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (733)
- 4. University of Malaya (778)
- 5. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (985)
- 6. Universiti Teknologi Mara (1367)
- 7. Universiti Malaysia Perlis (1413)
- 8. Universiti Utara Malaysia (1454)
- 9. Multimedia University (1528)
- 10. International Islamic University Malaysia (1576)
Are you graduated from one of the world class universities/colleges? Some fresh graduates find it difficult to get a job. It could be due to few years back, they've made an unwise decision and studied in a low ranking university.
While some might want to argue that university ranking like this could be subjective, the employment market, locally or globally, will eventually reflect the reference value of the ranking system.
Click here to go to the homepage of Webometrics website.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
eDividend to replace cheque and direct credit dividend entitlements into our bank account
Starting from 19 April 2010, investors in KLSE can opt to receive dividend payments from public listed companies in the form of eDividend instead of the traditional way of receiving dividend cheques.
This will bring convenient to share investors using direct trading account(s), although doesn't make much different to those using nominee account(s).
Common problems such as delay receipt of dividend cheque, lost cheque, cheque expired, etc. will be eliminated, as dividend payment will be directly credited into our bank account if we've applied for this eDividend service. After the money is banked in, we will receive eNotification via email and/or SMS.
We can register for eDividend with our stock broker. There will be no cost incurred if we apply for eDividend within the period from 19 April 2010 until 18 April 2011.
The following are needed when applying for eDividend:
- Fill up a 3-ply eDividend form, and provide info about our bank account number, email, mobile number, etc.
- Copy of bank statement
- Copy of NRIC / Passport / Authority Card
And the eDividend payment flow is as follow.
All companies listed in KLSE who announce a books closing date for dividend entitlements on or after 1 September 2010 are required to pay dividends via eDividend to their shareholders who have registered for this service.
Click here for more information about eDividend.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tan Teng Boo will conduct 2 seminars, 1 for fundamental analysis, 1 for technical analysis
You might be awared that Mr Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武), the founder and key person of iCapital and Capital Dynamics, is going to conduct 2 seminars, 1 for fundamental analysis, 1 for technical analysis, together with his team.
Seminar 1: Understand Economic Indicators, Invest Successfully
Date: 10 April 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 8am- 5pm
Venue: Renaissance Kuala Lumpur
"Where is the global economy heading? Is China on the verge of a collapse? Will global interest rates keep rising? How will it impact currencies, economic growth and stock markets?"
"The comprehensive seminar will explain the methodology used for various economic indicators and their interpretation. It will look at the current economic structures and sources of growth of the US, China, Eurozone, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as their distinctive individual characteristics. The vital economic indicators of each economy will be presented and their implications explained."
Indicators:
- Gross Domestic Product
- Consumer Price Index
- Money Aggregates
- Balance of Payments
- Producer Price Index
- Money Supply
- Performance of Manufacturing Index
- Performances of Construction Index
- Index of Commodity Prices
- Performance of Services Index
- Leading Indicator of Employment
- International Trade in Goods and Services
- Interest Rates
- Building Approvals
- Business Indicators
- Inflation
- Real Estate Index
- Retail Sales
- Bank Lending
- New Auto Sales
- Tourist Arrival
Date: 11 April 2010 (Sunday)
Time: 8am- 5pm
Venue: Renaissance Kuala Lumpur
"Whilst many are sidelined, some savvy traders and investors are profiting handsomely from this volatility. To trade successfully, you must understand the risk return relationship and have the discipline to follow trading rules. Not just any arbitrary rules, but proven ones from knowing technical analysis and chart formations."
Click here for more information, pricing and registration form for the 2 seminars of Tan Teng Boo.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Have you activated your free complimentary Purchase Protection Plan for MasterCard?
If you are holding any MasterCard credit card issued in Malaysia, here is a good news to you.
MasterCard now offers their credit card holders a free complimentary Purchase Protection Plan (PPP), underwritten by Chartis Malaysia Insurance Berhad (CMI, formerly known as AIG General Insurance (M) Berhad).
This policy insures against loss or damage of your Personal Property / Items purchased (either locally or overseas) with your MasterCard credit card, in the event of Theft, Burglary, Robbery and Accidental Damage within 30 days from the date of items purchased.
The coverage is as follow.
Classic/Gold/Titanium/Premium/Platinum credit cards:
- Limit for Any One Occurrence: RM1,500
- Annual Aggregate Limit: RM7,500
- Limit for Any One Occurrence: RM1,500
- Annual Aggregate Limit: RM10,000
This is the SMS I got after I sent my activation SMS to 36660.
Imagine that you are so unluckly to be robbed a few minutes after you bought a jewelry with your credit card; or you accidentally dropped a newly purchased camera / handphone / laptop. Now at least you can get the compensation from this Purchase Protection Plan. And since it is free, there is nothing to lose to activate it.
Click here for more information about the free Purchase Protection Plan for MasterCard.
Transforming my Streamyx & TM Homeline to Blockbuster Deals package
TM has recently launched their Blockbuster Deals package promotion, which seems to be attractive for us to get more at less cost.
This might be their respond to the market, after facing fierce competition from the mobile 3.5G and Wimax telcos. Like Chinese says: "you'll get improvement when you have competition" (有竞争才有进步), glad to see that over the years, TM and Streamyx has improved from their previous lousy service, in terms of broadband quality and speed, as well as better pricing for voice and Internet.
Let's see what we can get from this Blockbuster Deals package promotion:
- Zero charge on phoneline rental
- Free unlimited calls to TM fixed line nationwide
- Flat rate of 10 sen/min to all mobile and other fixed line nationwide
- Free DECT phone
- Free WiFi modem
Although there is a contract period of 1 year, it is still an attractive deal, isn't it?
For those that don't need Streamyx broadband service, there is also a voice-only deal with 6 months contract period. I wonder who will be interested in this, but this plan is much better than the previous Let's Talk plan.
Click here for more information about the TM Blockbuster Deals.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Done my comprehensive health screening @ Golden Horses Health Sanctuary
Today I've done my comprehensive health screening together with my wife at Golden Horses Health Sanctuary(GHHS) inside the Palace of the Golden Horses.
Seems like both of us need to reduce some of our body fat to make it fall back to the "normal range" from the current slightly high side.
Few years back, we joint the membership of this health screening programme at the price of RM5,000 and entitiled to use some of the Country Heights' facilities (such as swimming pool, gym, etc.) and 20 years of annual health screening service at the cost of RM3xx per year.
This is a really comprehensive health examination. The result of the following 99 items are included in my report:
- General inspection (10 items)
- Ophthalmic inspection (8 items)
- Physical examination (11 items)
- Electrocardiogram (ECG) (1 item)
- Hearing inspection (2 items)
- Pulmonary function inspection (3 items)
- Hematology profile (15 items)
- Blood group (2 items)
- Diabetic screening (1 item)
- Lipids profile (6 items)
- Liver function (9 items)
- Renal function profile (5 items)
- Calcium, phosphorus and iron (3 items)
- Gout screening (1 item)
- Hepatitis B screening and other serology test (3 items)
- Arthritis screening (1 item)
- Thyroid profile (2 items)
- Cancer screening (2 items)
- Urinalysis (12 items)
- Chest X-Ray (1 item)
- Ultrasound abdomen and pelvis (1 item)
We are given free voucher (transferable) to conduct bone test, recommended for people above 45 years old. As we are still at our young age, we plan to transfer the entitlement for the bone test to our parents.
It is a good practice to conduct comprehensive health screening to our body, so that if there is any health distortion, can be detected and rectified at early stage. We can also enjoy an income tax relief of up to RM500 per year for complete medical examination like this.
So, have you done yours?
Friday, March 5, 2010
EPF declared 5.65% dividend for 2009
Few hours ago, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. KWSP) has just declared the dividend rate for financial year 2009 to be of 5.65%, which is considered higher than the expectation of most financial analysts and general public.
This is not too bad, compared to the low rate of 4.5% in FY 2008.
With this dividend rate, it seems that those who have withdrawn their EPF Account II savings to reduce their housing loan during 2009 might be regreted to do so, as the effective mortgage rate is generally lower than 5.65% in 2009, due to a lower BLR rate along the year.
Anyhow, this rate is still lower than my personal investment return rate in 2009, therefore I need not regrete to opt for 8% EPF contribution instead of 11% for year 2009-2010. You might have a clue of which shares I invested in by reading my Investment related articles here, particularly those written in 2009.
Also, this rate is lower than the return I got from the unit trusts I bought with MAAKL Mutual by using part of my EPF Account I savings. Begining from the month of June, I had made 3 such EPF withdrawals during 2009 to invest in unit trust funds in MAAKL Mutual.
Although the commission rate of buying unit trusts with EPF Account I withdrawal is set at 3%, I still find it pretty expensive, compared to the fees of buying share directly in KLSE through the stockbroker. Luckily it still provides a better return than the 5.65% of EPF, so seems like I have made a good try.
How about you? Are you happy with the 5.65% rate you got from EPF in 2009? Or not satisfied and demand for more?
Click here to read the official announcement from EPF, and the investment structure of EPF in 2009, etc.
Russia to produce UFO alike flying saucers able to carry 11,000 people?
There is an interesting news from Russia that a company called LocomoSky in their Ulianovsk of Volga is carrying out a government funded project to produce a bizarre hybrid of helicopter and aerostat, UFO alike "flying saucers".
The prototype, named "aerostatic thermoballasted vehicle" or simply "Locomoskayner" after its manufacturer, was presented in the MAKS-2009 International Aviation and Space Salon air show in Russia recently.
This prototype flying saucer was 23 feet in diameter, and was claimed to be able to transport 20 kg of cargo.
The company, however, plans to produce aircraft with a cargo-carrying capacity of up to 600 metric tons or a passenger capacity of up to 11,000 people.
Having low fuel consumption as compared to ordinary aircraft due to its aerodynamic form, the flying saucer will be able to hover, perform a vertical landing, move in a straight line with speeds close to 100 km/h, turn around, and most importantly, need no special ground-based facilities to land.
With its special flying characteristics and superb loading capacity, it will be able to transport out-sized cargoes to remote and inaccessible areas.
Let's see whether this dream will come into reality in the very near future.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
5th Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE) 2010
If you are a fan of underwater diving or interested in this kind of activity which lets you explore into the beautiful, attractive and scenic world under the sea, be informed that the Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE), which is the biggest dive expo in Asia-Pacific region, will be held in Kuala Lumpur again for its 5th time.
Date: 30 July - 1 August 2010
Time: 10am - 7pm
Venue: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur
Admission: free
Activities in the expo includes:
- Dive photo competition & winners gallery
- Seminar & talks
- Workshop & training programme
- Children colouring contest
- Exhibition with 150 exhibitors
Click here for more information about the 5th MIDE 2010.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
JobStreet.com Malaysia Career & Training Fair (MCTF) 2010
The 9th Malaysia Career & Training Fair (MCTF) to be organized by JobStreet.com is coming soon. This event is freely open for public.
The previous MCTF 2009 had successfully attracted participation from more than 108,500 job seekers and over hundred of exhibitors. This year, they are targetting for 120,000 visitors.
The event details are as follow:
Date: 16-18 April 2010
Time: 10am ~ 7pm
Venue: Mid Valley Convention Centre (KL)
Job seekers are advised to bring along their C.V., and some of the exhibitors might conduct on the spot interview with suitable candidates during the event.
The 12th Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) 2010 will also be held at the same time and adjacent venue in Mid Valley Exhibition Centre together with this MCTF '10.
Click here to visit the official website of MCTF 2010.
Click here to see the exhibition floor plan of MCTF 2010.
Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) 2010
The 12th Post Graduate Education Fair (PGEF) will be organized by AIC this coming April 2010. The event is freely open to public.
Date: 16-18 April 2010
Time: 10am ~ 7pm
Venue: Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (KL)
You might probably be interested to read on:
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Money flowing out of Malaysia at an alarming speed
Money is flowing out of Malaysia at an alarming speed! Despite the "denial syndrome" of some local economists trying to find reasons and tell us to keep cool and ignore the alarm, the immediate question is still intact: How to reverse the flow as soon as possible? Can a solution be found in the New economic Model?
Issue 795 of The Edge Malaysia printed edition for the week of 1-7 March 2010 has a striking headline of "Reversing the Flow" for its cover story. I see this as a follow up report after UBS economist Jon Anderson's report titled "Malaysia - Another Bizarre Story". In fact, there was already a Special Report in Issue 789 of The Edge Malaysia titled "Malaysia: How Bizarre?" responding directly to Jon's report, which you can read its online version here.
Publicly available data from Bank Negara reveals it is no doubt true that Malaysia has, in the recent years, been squeezed by double outflow of money from:
- Slowdown in foreign direct investments (FDI) to the country
- Surge in investments to overseas by local companies
Local companies going out of the border and invest in overseas could be viewed as a good sign from certain angle, as it shows the growth and competitiveness of the companies, as well as reaping benefits to the shareholders upon success. However, some has observed that most of the money invested in overseas remains at overseas, and not bringing back to Malaysia, yet. This is not good to the development of local economy. This kind of overseas investment also impacts the local job market, as the investment and business development activities might create job opportunities abroad, but not locally.
At the same time, we saw recently some well-known tycoons sold off their local business which they have developed for decades, and invest the proceeds overseas. Is this a migration move that never come back? Not a good sign either.
I am not an economist, but as a small investor, I care about the economic weather very much. As a worker, I also care about the local industry and job market growth trend. So, I am very keen to know how the government will respond the issue and reverse the flow as soon as possible, before it is too late.
Adding virtual desktops to Windows with VirtuaWin
Most Linux users are very familiar with virtual desktops (a.k.a. workspaces), which enables you to organize your opened applications in more than one desktop that you can switch over from one to another using hotkeys or mouse clicks.
Though virtual desktops feature is not bundled in MS Windows OS, its availability in the form of 3rd party software, either free or commercial, has been around for many years. Microsoft also provides a virtual desktops Powertoy called Virtual Desktop Manager (MSVDM), which many find it is slow, lack of functionality, and not performing as good as the 3rd party counterparts.
If you are looking for an open source virtual desktops for Windows, Virtual Dimension used to be a popular and good one, but its development seems to have ceased around 2005.
The virtual desktop I'm using now is VirtuaWin. It is free and licensed under GPL version 2, and latest release is Version 4.1 dated 09-09-2009.
VirtuaWin has been around since 1999. It can run in all version of modern Windows OS including Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP, Win 2003, Win Vista and Win 7.
It is very lightweight, fast in desktop switching, modular with features expandable by loading more modules into it. It even has a portable version which doesn't need any prior installation to use.
VirtuaWin is very easy to install and run. By default, you will get 4 virtual desktops (2 x 2) which you can navigate by pressing Ctrl-Alt together with one of the arrow keys on your keyboard. If you don't like this hotkey setting, you can always change your preference in its setup.
You can increase or reduce the number of virtual desktops by configuring its Desktop Layout, up to a maximum of 20. The more virtual desktops you use, the more amount of memory will be consumed.
With VirtuaWin, now you can use, for example, one desktop for web browsing, one desktop for graphics editing, one desktop for document writing, one desktop for network monitoring, ... this is of course more organized than cluttering all of them in a single desktop in Windows.
If you are a developer, and find any feature lacking in VirtuaWin, you can in fact make the feature by yourself using the VirtuaWin module SDK. Being open source and modular, the feature list of VirtuaWin is believed to be able to expand unlimitedly with the support and contribution from the developers community.
In fact, some of the fancy features in other virtual desktops software has been made available to VirtuaWin via module contributions.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The threat and vulnerability of GPS
The critical reliance and important usage on GPS nowadays, both in civil and military, has recently brought up a hot discussion again for the concerns in its threat and vulnerability.
Anyhow, this issue is not new, and has been discussed among technology experts for many years. Just that when GPS usage become more and more widespread, its threat and vulnerability need to be brought to its users' awareness, especially in the military, government and business sectors.
The GPS operation relies on signals from some 30 over orbiting satellites surrounding the earth in the space. In order for a GPS receiver to triangulate its position on earth, it needs to get signals from at least 3 GPS satellites.
GPS signal is known to be exceptionally weak. Each satellite transmits a signal equivalent to the power of a 25W light bulb from an distance of about 20,000km away. Such a weak signal can be readily interfered with or denied by unintentional or deliberate radio wave interference.
Portable GPS jammer devices such as the one shown in the diagram below have been made available for quite some times.
Some car security system and transportation logistic system make use of GPS to keep track on the position of the vehicle. It has been reported that car thieves make use of GPS jammer to disrupt the GPS signal and defeat the vehicle tracking system, therefore render the vehicle unlocatable.
Employees who drive vehicles that are tracked by their companies can also make use of the GPS jammer to hide their tracks.
In Germany, it is believed that some drivers are using GPS jammer to evade GPS-based road charging system.
Robbers can also easily spoof the GPS signal and guide the target vehicle to drive to their trap location.
Imagine what would happen if terrorists make attack on the GPS function of air traffic and/or naval traffic.
Beside its global positioning function, GPS is also used as a time server for time synchronization in certain infrastructure. This function can also be defeated by the jammer, and time critical system could be hacked in this way.
The GPS signal used by the US military is different from the civil signal, and is encrypted. However, it is also vulnerable to GPS jammer and subjected to interferrance from the enemy.
Imagine a GPS dependent missle being mislead by the enemy to attack on wrong target, or worse still, to attack to ally target instead of the enemy.
By intercepting the GPS signal, the position of military GPS user could be exposed to the enemy.
In the video below, you can see the GPS jammer in action and how it defeated the civil and military GPS.
So, what can we do to minimize the threat to GPS? Beside waiting for the US to strengten on the signaling, when we want to make use of GPS, also use some other alternative methods so that GPS could not be a single point of failure.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
What are CPM, CPC, CPA, CPE, etc in online advertising
You might have noticed that my blog currently serves ads from Google Adsense and Innity Performance Network.
If you are familiar with online advertising, you should know about CPM, CPC, CPA, CPE, etc. If you are new to it, you might wonder what are these jargons about.
Well, they actually refer to the model in which you will be paid for ads running on your website or blog.
- CPM - Cost Per Mille or Cost Per Thousand Impressions. This is the easiest model to generate earnings, as every time the ads appear to a visitor to your site, you will get an amount of money. The rate is at 1,000 ad served. If your site produces less than 1,000 impressions for the ad, you will get a proportion of it. Google Adsense reports the estimated CPM rate you receive based on your earnings with Effective CPM (eCPM).
- CPC - Cost Per Click. You'll generate earnings when your visitors click on the ads displayed on your site.
- CPA - Cost Per Acquisition. You will be paid for leads generated on your site (e.g. product trial sign up, submission of survey, etc.)
- CPE - Cost Per Engagement. You will be paid for engagements generated by visitors from your site. Engagement is defined when a user response to the ad through the act of experiencing the features of the ad format. These features include advergames, videos or even social sharing.
The rule of thumb: No matter what the revenue model is, visitor traffic is the key for you to get some earnings from online advertising.
Shareholders dividend under the single tier tax system (STS)
Malaysia has introduced single tier tax system (STS) in Budget 2008 to replace the existing imputation tax system with effect from year of assessment 2008. This has brought major impact to the treatment of dividend paid to the shareholders.
You might have noticed that some of the companies already giving out dividends under the new STS, although they have a 6 year transitional grace period until 31 December 2013 to fully convert from imputation to STS.
Under this STS, corporate income is taxed at corporate level and is a final tax. No tax is being deducted from dividend paid, credited or distributed to shareholders. As a result, there will be no Section 110 tax credits deduction for any dividend paid under STS to individual tax payers.
While this has negative impact to lower income individual shareholders whose top income tax bracket is less than the statutory company tax rate, as they no longer eligible to claim for a Section 110 tax credits refund under the new STS, there are several benefits of moving forward from imputation tax system to single tier tax system:
- The company is able to reduce administration cost as there is no need to maintain Section 108 balances anymore.
- Individual tax payer no need to bother about dividend income and Section 110 declaration for dividends received under STS.
- High income bracket individuals need not pay tax on the differential between his marginal tax rate and the company tax rate.
- Companies with capital gains and non taxable accounting profits are able to declare dividends without any constraint. This might bring higher dividend yields to shareholders.
- Companies with huge Section 108 balances may pay special dividends during the transitional period.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Takada ISB-889 Air Master 4-in-1 air cooler
The weather during this Chinese New Year time is freaking hot, and it is so uncomfortable to stay indoor without air-cond, not to mention sleeping in the hot night with only ceiling fan blowing at the maximum speed.
Therefore, I decided to hunt for an air cooler to be used in my hometown.
There are 2 brands of air cooler selling at Tesco for RM2xx, namely Takada and Global, but it seems that others have also hunted for the same thing like me, and they've run out of stock.
Finally, managed to buy a Takada ISB-889 Air Master 4-in-1 air cooler at the cost of RM3xx in Parkson. The size of this unit is bigger than the air coolers sold in Tesco, with a stronger blower and larger water tank. Functionality wise is the same though.
Its so-called 4-in-1 functions are:
- Cooler - with water and ice box
- Purifier - with its filter and ozone release
- Ionizer - with its oxygen bar releasing negative ion
- Humidifier - damping with water curtain
Although not comparable with air-cond, this air cooler functions pretty well in keeping the room cool, and now we can sleep comfortably at night.
Laptop connecting to Internet via Bluetooth to P1i smart phone with Celcom 3G/GPRS
Happy Chinese New Year!
I am away from home during this period and would not be able to access Internet using my home's Streamyx ADSL.
Anyhow, I managed to setup my laptop connecting to Internet via Bluetooth to my Sony Ericsson P1i smart phone with Celcom 3G networking service.
I'll show you how.
Prerequisites:
- You have installed PC Suite for Sony Ericsson in your laptop. If you use Nokia or other brand, you should install the PC Suite for your smart phone as well.
- You are a Celcom mobile user. If you are using Maxis or Digi or other mobile service, the setting could be similar but not exactly the same.
- You have a 3G phone with a 3G SIM card. Probably a non-3G phone with GPRS is also OK. The phone must support Internet routing function.
- I think connecting the laptop to your phone using USB cable is a better way. Since I forgot to bring along the USB cable, I have to connect using Bluetooth, which is another workable way.
For existing Celcom mobile user, to subscribe to Celcom daily unlimited broadband service, you just need to send an SMS with content "Broadband Daily" to 28882. Then, wait for the following confirmation SMS.
To confirm the subscription, reply the SMS with "Broadband Yes". You will receive another notification SMS if your subcription is successful.
With Celcom daily unlimited broadband service, you can now access the Internet for 24 hours at a fix rate of RM6 only, regardless of the usage.
Then, you need to pair up the Bluetooth connection between your laptop and your smart phone.
After that, run the PC Suite for Sony Ericsson in your laptop. Then, click on the "Mobile Networking Wizard" icon in PC Suite for Sony Ericsson to launch the wizard.
Then, click the "New Connection..." button in the Mobile Networking Wizard. Select Packet Switched Data (GPRS/3G) and click Next. Follow the instructions and you should be able to create a new dial-up connection in your laptop.
Once setup, you can find this dial-up connection in the Windows' Start > Connect To listing. In future, you can connect to internet via your smart phone using Bluetooth with this link and need not go through the Mobile Networking Wizard again.
Although the Internet speed of this kind of Internet connection via Bluetooth to smart phone is at 115.2Kbps only, it is much better than the 56Kbps modem dial-up Internet.
If you are still unable to access to the Internet using 3G/GPRS service, and you have access to a normal telephone line with Telekom homeline service, and your laptop has a built-in modem, you can plug the telephone line into your laptop RJ11 jack, and dial to 1315 (no username nor password required) to get a 56Kbps dial-up Internet, which is pretty slow, especially when accessing https secured websites. The charge for this EZNet 1315 dial-up Internet is 4 sen per minute or RM2.40 per hour.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Google Buzz: Facebook liked social networking feature in GMail
Hot news!
Google is currently introducing a Facebook liked new social networking feature called Google Buzz to their GMail users by phase.
If Google Buzz is already made available to your GMail account, you will see a new menu option named as "Buzz" right below "Inbox" of your GMail menu option list.
You can also access Google Buzz with your smart phone. The interface will be pretty much Twitter liked. The Buzz mobile application is currently available for Android, iPhone, etc. Just visit to buzz.google.com in your phone's browser to install it.
Similar to Facebook and Twitter, you can post a short update about what you are doing or thinking in Buzz, and share it to your selected group of people.
When you see an update from your friend, you can make instant comment on them, which will appear on the Buzz screen of everyone else within the social circle.
You can also showcase and share videos, photos and Web links to interesting stories.
Here is a video introducing the features available in Google Buzz.
Click here to learn more about Google Buzz.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Asia Trader & Investor Convention (ATIC) @ KL 2010
The 5th annual Asia's largest trader and investor event, Asia Trader & Investor Convention (ATIC) 2010 is coming soon.
Date: 20-21 March 2010
Time: 9.00am - 6.00pm
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KLCC, Malaysia
It will feature more than 50 English and Mandarin investment seminars, 30 international and local renowned speakers, 40 exhibitors and 15,000-20,000 targeted investors.
Some of the feature speakers including:
- Daryl Guppy - Founder & Director of Guppytraders.com
- Alan Hull - Creator of the Hull Moving Average (HMA)
- Alan Oliver - Private Trader
- Dar Wong 黄达 - Founder of PWforex.com
- Don Schellenberg - Founder of Master Money Traders
- Benny Lee - Chief Market Strategist
- Mark Laudi - CEO of Investor Central
- Renesial Leong 梁彩桃 - Property Investor
- G.M. Teoh - Technical Analyst
- Dr. Jeffrey Chiew - Asia Chairman of IARFC
- Carol Yip 叶凯蓉 - Founder of Abacus For Money
- William Wermine - Fund Manager Rep
- Chan Ai Cheng - General Manager of S.K. Brothers Realty
- Stewart LaBrooy - Director of Axis REIT Managers Berhad
- Alan Voon 温世麟 - CEO of Warrants Capital
- Fred Tam - Principal Lecturer in CFTA at Open University Malaysia
- Dr. Nazri Khan - Chief Technical Analyst of MIMB Investment Bank
- Mirriam MacWilliams - Chief Trainer of Wealth Mentors Sdn Bhd
- David Yuen - Teraoptions Management Sdn Bhd
- David Lo Tuck Wye - Executive Director of HLG Futures Sdn Bhd
This event is endorsed/supported by:
- International Association of Registered Financial Consultants
- Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM)
- Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC)
- Malaysian Venture Capital And Private Equity Association
- Malaysia Futures Brokers Association (MFBA)
- Persatuan Wakil Niaga Saham Malaysia (PERSAMA)
- Persatuan Remisier Bumiputra (PRIBUMI)
Click here for more information about ATIC at KL 2010.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The sextuple constraint of scope, time, cost, quality, risk and resource
If you have been involved in any kind of project management, be it in business or personal, you might have known about the famous triple constraint of project management, with the following general formula:
Quality = f(Scope, Time, Cost)
It is a simple rule of concept that says:
- To get the product with quality of your expectation, you have to at least plan carefully for the scope of work, time schedule and cost allocation.
- In order to maintain the same quality, any change to one of the 3 factors will need an adjustment to the remaining 2 of them. The 3 constraints are inter-dependent.
- If you want to adjust your quality expectation (either better or lower), then you can also adjust factors of scope, time and cost accordingly.
For example, it is generally true that if you want to achieve a wide scope with little cost and time, you have to compromise on the quality expectation.
This triple constraint has been expanded to sextuple constraint in modern project management literature. They are: scope, time, cost, quality, risk and resource.
The risk factor is crucial because if it is not well managed, it will affect the other factors as well. Risk management comes in as preventive measure to safeguard the planned time schedule, cost, quality and resource allocated for the specific scope.
Resource is also an important factor. For example, with better resource on hand, you might be able to achieve the scope of quality with less time, cost and risk.
It is a good practise to always refer to the sextuple constraint for planning, managing and making changes to projects, so that our expectation is more realistic and success is viable.
You might want to use it in some of these projects which most of us will surely encounter during our life voyage:
- Education planning
- Wedding planning
- Parenthood planning
- Buying a house
- House renovation and/or decoration
- Travel planning
- Retirement planning
- ...
- Software development
- Building development
- Business development
- Operations planning
- Change/Restructuring management
- ...
Friday, February 5, 2010
CSC Steel made record high earnings in FY2009
CSC Steel (5094, CSCSTEL 中钢马来西亚, formerly known as Ornasteel), a subsidiary of China Steel Corporation of Taiwan (中钢公司) which produces flat steel products, is always well known for its excellent cash flow management.
Its unaudited 4th quarter financial result for 2009 announced today is very promising. Despite a comparatively lower revenue made during the challenging year of 2009, CSC Steel has successfully made record high in its operating profit, EBITA, profit after tax and NTA. The EPS of 24.42 sen has outperformed the expectation of all research firms, which majority estimate it to be around 20 sen only. Its cash on hand also soars to a new height of RM312 million.
The board of directors has proposed for a 20 sen dividend, which is also a record high in DY since its listing.
With its unaudited EPS of 24.42 sen and closing price of RM1.53 on 5 Feb 2010, its PE stood at a low point of 6.27 although its share price has risen above 50% within the past 1 year period.
Congratulation to the 6000+ shareholders of CSC Steel holding its 373 million shares (about 7 million of its 380 million shares are sitting in its treasury account due to buy back 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.
Click here to read my other article about this stock counter, written about 2 years ago.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The oriental culture of gift economy
Now is the new year gift session, and traditionally it is a norm for oriental businesses to send greeting card or gift to their loyal clients, partners, principals, suppliers, staffs, etc. This could also be in the form of lunch and/or dinner invitation.
The oriental gift culture, especially during new year time, is a form of social appreciation and thanksgiving to the people and entities who help or involve in the business making.
Gift economy (送礼文化) and the underlying spirit of gift governance (礼治精神) has always been in the core position in traditional Chinese culture. The basic principle is that whenever we received a gift, we must also respond with a returned gift (礼尚往来). From here, the harmonious relationship strengthen.
Note that the government in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and some other regions have come out with guidelines and rules to govern the gift economy, especially applied to civil departments. The value of the gift should not exceed a certain limit, or else it could be viewed as a form of corruption.
Normally, calendar, planner book, small stationeries, small electronic gadgets, etc. with the company info imprinted are common gifts specially made for this purpose.
The oriental culture of gift economy is a kind of crucial business activity, particularly in Asia-Pacific region. The business owners and their senior executives ought to practice well in this, in order to facilitate their money making business.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Earth Hour @ 20:30 Saturday 27 March 2010
The Earth Hour campaign which started in Sydney in 2007 is now entering its 4th year. It is reported that hundreds of millions of people around the world has supported in Earth Hour 2009 last year.
You can participate in the worldwide Earth Hour 2010 campaign by switching off all the non-essential lights for 60 minutes by Saturday 27 March 2010, 8.30pm sharp.
No doubt WWF has successfully made Earth Hour a global moment for many people to participate and turn off their lights during the historical moment.
However, what happened after that 60 minutes? Did WWF raise enough awareness to us of global climate change issues? Did we made any changes to our day-to-day habit after participated in that 60 minutes Earth Hour?
Why people in the soutern hemisphere started to see so many iceburgs floating around the ocean far away from the Antarctica? Why people in the northern hemisphere is experiencing the coolest winter season now?
I believe that supporting Earth Hour is not only for that 60 minutes moment. After that, we should be more awared of the issue that suppose to be brought up in this campaign, and act accordingly to reduce the burden of Mother Earth whenever we can.
Earth Hour should remain as a serious matter, and not merely becoming another celebration event of the year.
Here is the official Earth Hour 2010 video:
Click here to visit the official website of Earth Hour.
Singapore ranked as #1 economy in ease of doing business
Out of the 183 worldwide economies analysed in the Doing Business 2010 Report by World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan, Singapore is again the champion in ease of doing business (it was #1 in 2009 Report too).
A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business. This index averages the economy's percentile rankings on 10 topics, made up of a variety of indicators, with equal weight:
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Employing workers
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Closing a business
- 1. Singapore
- 2. New Zealand
- 3. Hong Kong
- 4. United States
- 5. United Kingdom
- 6. Denmark
- 7. Ireland
- 8. Canada
- 9. Australia
- 10. Norway
- 11. Georgia
- 12. Thailand
- 13. Saudi Arabia
- 14. Iceland
- 15. Japan
- 16. Finland
- 17. Mauritius
- 18. Sweden
- 19. Korea, Rep.
- 20. Bahrain
- 21. Switzerland
- 22. Belgium
- 23. Malaysia
- 24. Estonia
- 25. Germany
- 26. Lithuania
- 27. Latvia
- 28. Austria
- 29. Israel
- 30. Netherlands
Click here for the complete list of ranking across the 183 economies.
Doing Business 2010 Report by World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan
The World Bank, IFC and Palgrave MacMillan have co-published their 7th Doing Business annual report for 2010 with the theme "Reforming Through Difficult Times".
This comprehensive 231 pages report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies.
It measures, in detail, various regulations that affect the 10 stages of the business life-cycle applicable to the respective domestic small and medium-size enterprises, as follow:
- Starting a business
- Dealing with construction permits
- Employing workers
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Closing a business
- The laws and regulations
- Time and motion indicators that measure the efficiency in achieving a regulatory goal
Don't be surprised to know that the top reformer of the year is a Sub-Saharan African economy, Rwanda.
Click here to download the full report of Doing Business 2010.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) roadmap towards Vision 2020 unveiled
On 28 Jan 2010, the detailed roadmap of Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) was unveiled.
This GTP roadmap is crucial to catch up the progress to reach Vision 2020 in time, and it is indeed well written. It is better late than none that, after almost 2 decades Vision 2020 launched, and only left with 1 decade to fulfil, finally the government come out with a more solid action plan on how to achieve the vision.
The GTP roadmap details the objectives, outcomes and the initial set of actions in areas identified as National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and Ministerial Key Result Areas (MKRAs, mentioned in Budget 2010 speech).
The NKRAs cover 6 areas which have been the long time concerns (and frustrations) of the citizens:
- Reducing crime
- Fighting corruption
- Improving student outcomes
- Raising living standards of low-income households
- Improving rural basic infrastructure
- Improving urban public transport
Click here to visit the official website of GTP.
Click here to download the GTP Roadmap documents.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
11 principle elements of a good manager
There are many perspective to view someone as a good manager. The following 11 principle elements of a good manager are listed in a management course I've attended, which I find the list is a good measurement as well as direction.
- Know yourself and seek self-improvement
- Be technically proficient and know your job well
- Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
- Make sound and timely decisions
- Set the example and be a good role model
- Know your people and look out for their well-being
- Keep your workers informed
- Develop a sense of responsibility in your workers
- Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised, and accomplished
- Train as a real team, not just a group of people
- Use the full capabilities of your organization by developing a team spirit
Friday, January 22, 2010
Show PageRank and Alexa ranking of websites in status bar of Firefox / SeaMonkey / IE with SearchStatus
By using the SearchStatus add-on, you can show at the status bar of your browser, the Google PageRank and Alexa popularity ranking of all the websites you are browsing.
This allows you to have a rough idea about the website's link importance and traffic importance, which is referenced by major search engines and Internet advertising services.
It could be useful to bloggers and webmasters in improving SEO for their websites. For example, you might want to get the high ranking websites to link to your own website, and SearchStatus can immediately tell you if the website you are visiting is of high ranking or not.
SearchStatus is available as add-in extension for Firefox and SeaMonkey. Beside Google PageRank and Alexa popularity ranking, it can also show the Compete.com ranking and SEOmoz Linkscape mozRank as well. It is also able to provide many Internet search related information of the website through its extensive menu items.
For Internet Explorer users, SearchStatus is included as a plug-in in the IE7Pro add-on. IE7Pro is a very famous plug-in which can be used in IE 6, IE 7 or IE 8 to enhance tremendously the IE features and usability.
Note that the last version of IE7Pro is 2.4.7, released on 16 Sep 2009. Its development and maintenance has stopped at this point.
The SearchStatus plug-in in IE7Pro is not on by default, but it is very simple to turn it on and include it in the IE's status bar.
Note that in order to gather information to produce the ranking statistic:
- Google PageRank sends your current URL and a hash of it to Google
- Alexa ranking sends your current URL domain, your local IP address and a unique constant to Alexa Web Services
- Compete ranking sends your current domain and a unique constant to Compete
- Linkscape ranking sends your current URL to Linkscape.
Click here for more information and download of SearchStatus for Firefox and SeaMonkey.
Click here for more information and download of IE7Pro for Internet Explorer.
You are welcomed to inform me if there are similar tools for other browsers such as Chrome, Opera, Safari, etc.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
2nd Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2010
Preceding to the great success of the 1st Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta last year, here come the 2nd event with more colourful and attractive balloons to fly up in Putrajaya.
Theme: 1World, 1Malaysia, 1Fiesta
Date: 18-21 March 2010
Time: 7am - 9pm
Venue: Precinct 2 (adjacent to the Monument Alaf Baru), Putrajaya, Malaysia
Activities include:
- Balloon fun fly
- Photographing sessions
- Para motor showcase
- Children colouring contest
- Remote control flying aircraft display
- Paper airplane contest
- Tethered balloon display
- Kite flying exhibition
- Night glow (fireworks display)
- Sphere rides and Waterball rides
- Inflatables / bouncing world
- Lake Cruise by Cruise Tasik Putrajaya
- Auto show
- Bazaar
- and more...