My Dell Studio XPS 8100 home PC (Part 1)

I've just replaced my aged Pentium IV 2.4GHz home PC which had served for many years, with a new Dell Studio XPS 8100. It was the same time when I bought my Dell SX2210T 21.5" full HD widescreen multi-touch all-in-one active-matrix LCD monitor. If you have been reading the "IT talks" section of this blog all the while, you might be well awared about this from my sharings along the process.

The Pentium IV PC which had served me for 8 years is still working fine, and I've sold it at minimal price to its new owner. It was my great asset with superb return on investment. I remember I bought it at around RM4k, and over the years, I've used it to write books & articles, coding for programming projects, analyse stocks, perform online trading, etc. Hopefully this new Dell Studio XPS 8100 with Core i5-750 processor will reap even higher ROI for me from now on.

Now, let me share with you the process of chosing this new home PC.

DIY or branded?

My previous Pentium IV PC was a DIY one. This time, I've chosen Dell because:

• The Dell Studio XPS 8100 has a competitive price that is very close to DIY the same specs myself.
• I can buy it with 12 months interest free credit card instalment.
• Its price includes warranty and insurance (1-year XPS Premier Service, 1-year CompleteCover accidental damage protection)
• Its price includes 1 year 24x7 Priority User PC phone support
• Its price includes 1 year 2GB Datasafe online backup. Not very big, but good enough to remote backup my important document files.

The processor

I've chosen the Intel Core i5-750 processor. By the time of buying, there wasn't any option to choose for Intel Core i5-760 yet as the i5-760 was just launched. Otherwise, I would have chosen the later as the price difference is minimal to i5-750.

I didn't choose an i7 processor because i5 with 4 cores is good enough for my use. The hyperthreading feature in i7 to boost its 4 physical cores to virtually 8 cores is nice, but bear in mind that whenever hyperthreading kicks off, the CPU temperature will rise sharply, and power consumption will increase tremendously too. Therefore, if you can live with i5 with 4 cores without hyperthreading, you probably won't need to go for i7, and in long run, that could save you money for less electricity consumption.

On 21 June 2010, I wrote about "Main differences among Intel 64-bit processors: Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, i3, i5, i7, ...".

Operating system

I do support for genuine OS and application software as long as the cost is reasonable.

For Dell Studio XPS 8100, there are only some variations of Windows 7 to choose. I've chosen Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition. I need 64-bit because I'm going to choose 8GB RAM. I don't need the additional features in Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate.

Unfortunately, this Dell Studio XPS 8100 package does not comes with the Windows 7 DVD. I only get a piece of yellow paper with instruction to burn my own Recovery DVDs.

The installed license key is also different from the one printed on the sticker on top of its chasis. I believe it is a generic Dell OEM Windows 7 license key for Home Premium 64-bit edition.

On 16 July 2010, I wrote about "Is Windows 7 Home Premium good enough? Do you need Professional or Ultimate edition? ".

On 12 September 2010, I wrote about "Workaround for Windows 7 to have multi-panel [All Programs] like Windows XP ".

Security software

Actually, I don't like McAfee, but I was forced to choose the cheapest one from the list, as I was told it is part of the package which cannot be taken out.

As soon as I received the computer, I've uninstalled the pre-installed McAfee Security Center and installed with Norton Internet Security which I bought at RM100 for 1 year subscription for 3 computers.

On 19 August 2010, I wrote about "Intel to buy over McAfee for $7.68 billion ".

On 27 August 2010, I wrote about "Best antivirus / security suite in 2010".

Monitor

I've chosen the Dell SX2210T 21.5" multi-touch monitor with webcam. However, the price of this monitor in the Studio XPS 8100 package didn't have any discount and stood at RM1,584. Therefore, I've chosen "no monitor" for the package instead, and purchased the monitor separately at the discounted price of RM1,099.

On 23 September 2010, I wrote about "My Dell SX2210T 21.5" full HD widescreen multi-touch all-in-one active-matrix LCD monitor ".

On 27 September 2010, I wrote about "Free multi-touch screen games and fun applications for Windows 7 by Microsoft ".

... continues to Part 2...

My Logitech V120 laser mouse designed for laptop

The optical mouse I used with my laptop has become faulty. It will keep on double click even though I just single click on it. I decided to replace it with a new mouse, perhaps with one that still can work on glass and glossy surface.

I found out that A4Tech has come out with their Glasser series of optical mouses with their Dual Focus Lens technology, and claimed to work smoothly even on transparent glass. Another technology that can let the optical mouse work on glossy surface is to use laser beam instead of infra red.

So happen that my faulty mouse was from A4Tech brand, I decided to switch the brand to Logitech this time.

Logitech produces mouses with their Darkfield Laser Tracking technology, but the cost is relatively higher than their normal laser mouses. After some consideration, I've finally bought the Logitech V120 laser mouse, which is designed for use with laptop.

Despite lacking the Darkfield Laser Tracking technology, this Logitech V120 laser mouse can still work on glass surface, although not as smooth as on rough surface.

It is a wired mouse with USB connector to the computer. Being specially designed for laptop use, it has a short cable so that it won't tangle around. It also comes with a longer USB extension cable, so that it still can connect to a PC with some distance away.

In fact, the cord can be neatly winded into its base, with the USB plug snapped securely into place to protect the laser lens. With its compact size, it is easy to carry with no tangled mess.

Its price varies in different shops, from RM39 to as high as RM59. I bought mine in Thunder Match for RM39 only. It comes with a 3-year limited hardware warranty.

Free multi-touch screen games and fun applications for Windows 7 by Microsoft

If you have a multi-touch monitor such as Dell SX2210T, HP L2105tm, Acer T230H, Samsung LD220Z, etc., and your computer is running on Windows 7, you can download and install Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 from Microsoft Download Center for free.

Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 includes 6 applications designed to operate with multi-touch screen. After installation, you'll get:

Microsoft Blackboard, which is an intricate game of physics for you to solve puzzles by creating a fanciful machine on a "blackboard".

Microsoft Garden Pond, which is a game that takes place in a Japanese water gardens. Use your hand to create water ripples in the pond on your screen to guide the origami or to put off fire, without actually wetting your hand.

Microsoft Rebound, which is a game in which you use your fingertips to move Tesla balls with an electrical field between them to try and catapult a metal game ball into your opponent's goal.

Microsoft Surface Globe, which is a program that you can use to explore the earth as a flat 2D map or as an immersive 3D experience, similar to Google Earth.

Microsoft Surface Collage, which is a program that you can use to explore and interact with your photos and arrange them as a desktop background, similar to the one in Dell Touch Zone.

Microsoft Surface Lagoon, which is an interactive 3D screensaver that simulation an underwater world with fishes. You can play around with the water and fishes, without actually wetting your hand.

My Dell SX2210T 21.5" full HD widescreen multi-touch all-in-one active-matrix LCD monitor

Dell is among the pioneer to come out with LCD monitor with multi-touch screen feature. I bought my Dell SX2210T monitor from Dell Online during the previous PC Fair in August 2010, at a discounted price of RM1,099 with 3 years Advanced Exchange warranty.

Unlike those all-in-one PCs (such as Dell Studio One) which also include a multi-touch screen but has limited choice of hardware specification, this Dell SX2210T monitor can plug into any computer of your own specification that runs on Windows 7. It can be used by a game box too.

Currently the multi-touch feature requires Windows 7 Home Premium or above, and I heard that Ubuntu Linux 10.10, to be released soon in October, will support for such feature as well.

The main feature that differentiate this monitor with ordinary LCD monitors is its multi-touch screen. Beside complimenting the mouse actions with your finger to point and tap on the screen, you can have similar experience as using iPhone or iPad by using your finger to scroll, flip, drag, etc. You can also perform actions such as enlarge, reduce, rotate, etc. with more than one finger on the screen.

You can even do more with your finger with Flicks, like copy, paste, undo, delete, save, print, toggle certain key on the keyboard, etc.

Beside that, you can type using the on-screen keyboard. Further more, you can even write and draw on your screen, best assisted with a stylus.

However, you can only handwrite in one language, which is the current language setting of your Windows 7 (can be English, Chinese, Japanese, ...), unless you use Windows 7 Ultimate which supports full multilingual capability, then you can even handwrite Chinese in English Windows as well.

This is a 21.5" full HD 16:9 widescreen active matrix TFT LCD monitor with CCFL edgelight system, supporting high definition resolution of 1920 x 1080 in 32-bit (16.7 million) true colours. It can produce crystal clear display (output from the ATI Radeon HD5770 video card in my PC) with a pixel pitch as small as 0.248 mm.

Although its view angle is only 160 degree, the display is still fully viewable beyond that. You will only experience lost in colour when viewing the screen beyond 160 degree.

Its luminous output is 220 CD/m², pretty bright. It has a typical contrast ratio of 1000:1 (not so exciting) and a dynamic contrast ratio of up to 50,000:1. Its white is really white, and its black makes no different as when it is switched off. It has a very fast grey-to-grey response time of 2 ms only.

It supports 3 kinds of video input: DVI, HDMI and VGA. It comes with a DVI cable and also a VGA cable. HDMI cable is not provided. Normally, we just need to use DVI to connect to the video card in the PC.

Its touch screen is using optical sensor with resolution of 1073 Mpixel. Typical response time is 15 ms, which is pretty fast in picking up. The beauty of optical touch technology is: no pressure is required. You don't even need to physically touch on the screen, just point close to the screen and it will pick up the action.

I call it an "all-in-one" monitor because beside monitor and touch screen function, it also comes together with:

• 1 built-in webcam with 2 mega pixel sensor, able to capture video up to 1600 x 1200 (UXGA)
• 2 integrated microphones (located at left and right of the webcam)
• Audio line-in and line-out ports
• Optionally can attach with a soundbar
• 3 USB 2.0 downstream connectors (it acts as a USB hub)

It uses a USB cable (come together in the package) to connect to the PC, to power up all the three USB downstream connectors, as well as sending signals from touch input, webcam and microphones to the PC.

There is also a piece of black cloth comes together with the monitor, for you to wipe off your fingerprints on the touch screen.

This Dell SX2210T monitor is pretty unique from others, that it is running on DC current, and has an external power adapter similar to those commonly used by laptops. Its normal power consumption is only 28W, up to 42W when all USB ports are active as well.

In the CD that comes together with the monitor are:

• Driver for the monitor
• Touch screen tools (required for the multi-touch screen to function)
• Dell TouchCam (for webcam video capturing)
• FastAccess facial recognition (enables your face to be identified  by the webcam and recognized by the system using biometric technology)
• Some documentations

This Dell SX2210T monitor is plug and play. To replace the generic plug and play monitor driver with the one in the CD, you need to right click on your Windows 7 desktop, select Screen Resolution, then click on Advanced Settings, click the Monitor tab, click the Properties button. Then, click the Driver tab, click the Update Driver... button, select "Browse my computer for driver software" and look for the monitor driver in the CD to install it.

The 2 mega pixel webcam is good enough for normal usage. When it is operating, its white LED light will be switched on to alert you.

FastAccess is a pretty cool biometric application. You can use it to login Windows with your face, with or without password. You can use it to make sure you are in front of the PC, and lock the PC with password when you are away.

The log function of FaceAccess is quite interesting. With the webcam, it can take picture of the persons attempting to login to your Windows, be the login successful or not successful.

If you are also using this monitor, I strongly recommend you to download the Dell Touch Zone application here.

Dell Touch Zone demonstrates what you can do with your multi-touch screen, including playing drums, piano and other musical instruments on the screen with your hand, getting fun with pictures you've taken and stored in the computer, etc.

Click here to find out more about Dell SX2210T multi-touch all-in-one widescreen monitor.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

• 
  Free multi-touch screen games and fun applications for Windows 7 by Microsoft
  

Resizing harddisk partition in Windows Vista or Windows 7

If we want to resize a harddisk partition in Windows XP, we have to make use of 3rd party software such as GPartEd. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, there is built-in utility for us to resize the harddisk partition.

We seldom need to resize the harddisk partition, but most new computer pre-installed with the OEM OS is partitioned as one big partition only, although the harddisk can be of terrabytes of capacity.

One practical usage of this is to split the big C: drive into two. This will make possible system backup and system imaging of C: to D: drive in another partition.

You might also want to perform partition resizing when one of your harddisk partition is almost full, while there are space in other partition to squeeze out. In this case, shrink the partition with excess storage, and extend the partition which is almost full.

Here is how to do it in Windows 7.

Open the Start Menu, right click on Computer and select Manage. Then, expand Storage on the left panel, and click on Disk Management.

Right click on the partition you want to resize.

You will be given options to extend, shrink or delete the selected partition (a.k.a. volume). Of course, you can't extend a partition if there is no empty partition space next to it, and you can't delete a primary partition with extended partition(s) unless you deleted all the extended partitions first. Beware that deleting a partition will cause total data lost in that partition.

Software update to v3.10 (2010-09) available for Sing/Mal version of Garmin Nuvi 205/205w/255w

The new software version 3.10 (2010-09) is now available for Sing/Mal version of Garmin Nuvi 205/205w/255w.

This version will:

• Improve the stability of the GPS software system.
• Synchronize to English v6.60.

The size of installation file nuvi255W_SG_v310.exe is 11,239,424 bytes.

The update process is similar to that of previous version. You can refer to this article written for earlier version here for detailed steps of upgrade.

Richest and poorest countries in the world as of 2010 based on GDP (PPP) per capita

Global Finance has come out with a report to rank out the world's richest and poorest countries in 2010, based on their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) per capita.

The top 20 ranking (richest) are:

• 1. Qatar (90,149)
• 2. Luxembourg (79,411)
• 3. Norway (52,964)
• 4. Singapore (52,840)
• 5. Brunei Darussalam (48,714)
• 6. United States (47,702)
• 7. Hong Kong (44,840)
• 8. Switzerland (43,903)
• 9. Netherlands (40,601)
• 10. Australia (39,841)
• 11. Austria (39,561)
• 12. Canada (39,037)
• 13. Ireland (39,009)
• 14. Kuwait (38,984)
• 15. Iceland (36,750)
• 16. Sweden (36,503)
• 17. Denmark (36,336)
• 18. United Arab Emirates (36,176)
• 19. Belgium (35,825)
• 20. United Kingdom (35,083)

And the bottom 20 ranking (poorest) are:

• 164. Haiti (1,212)
• 165. Rwanda (1,195)
• 166. Comoros (1,161)
• 167. Guinea-Bissau (1,081)
• 168. Ethiopia (1,004)
• 169. Afghanistan (996)
• 170. Guinea (996)
• 171. Mozambique (981)
• 172. Malawi (925)
• 173. Madagascar (905)
• 174. Togo (832)
• 175. Sierra Leone (781)
• 176. Central African Republic (764)
• 177. Niger (733)
• 178. Eritrea (676)
• 179. Liberia (434)
• 180. Burundi (410)
• 181. Zimbabwe (365)
• 182. Congo (342)

The number in brackets above is the GDP (PPP) per capita of the respective country in current international dollars (a.k.a. Geary-Khamis dollars), which compares generalized differences in living standards on the whole between them.

PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of countries, rather than using just exchange rates, which may distort the real differences in income.

Under this scheme, China, which ranked the 1st in terms of GDP growth at the same period, only gets a 96th with GDP (PPP) of 7,240. This somehow shows the reality that although the economy in China is blooming, they still have a long way to go to get on top of the list.


The ranking and GDP (PPP) of the BRIC nations are:

• 52. Russian Federation (15,738)
• 73. Brazil (11,066)
• 96. China (7,240)
• 128. India (3,176)

And the ranking of ASEAN nations are:

• 4. Singapore(52,840) 
• 5. Brunei Darussalam (48,714)
• 59. Malaysia (14,275)
• 90. Thailand (8,479)
• 122. Indonesia (4,380)
• 127. Philippines (3,604)
• 129. Vietnam (3,104)
• 139. Laos (2,401)
• 146. Cambodia (2,084)
• 159. Myanmar(1,244)

The report concluded that "Poverty remains extensive throughout the world, particularly in south Asia and Africa. A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000 (their most recent figures), and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. The bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth. World Bank Development Indicators reported in 2008 that in 2005 (their most recent figures) 1.4 billion people lived on $1.25 a day or less (US$ PPP); almost 15% of the world’s population, or nearly 1 billion people, lived on $1 a day or less."

Click here to read the Global Finance's report on world's richest and poorest countries. You can also see the full ranking list there.

Migrating everything in SeaMonkey user profiles from one computer to another with MozBackup

If you want to backup/restore the user profiles of a Mozilla application (including SeaMonkey, Firefox, Thunderbird, Sunbird, Flock, Postbox Express, Mozilla Suite, Spicebird, Songbird, Netscape, Wyzo, etc.) or to migrate the user profiles from one computer to another, I've found a free, simple and amazing application called MozBackup.

MozBackup is a freeware (even for commercial use) and works on Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/7. It is developed in Czech republic.

It can backup a Mozilla user profile into a single file, and restore it to the Mozilla applications in the same or different computer. It works with portable version of Mozilla applications too. You have the option to password protect the backup file too.

It is able to backup/restore everything in the Mozilla user profile, including all the settings, emails, address books, bookmarks, history, sidebars, user styles, extensions, saved passwords, cookies, saved form details, downloaded file list, security certificates , cache, signature files, etc.

It is intelligent enough to detect the Mozilla applications installed in the computer, and the backup/restore operation can be done within a few simple steps only.

I am able to transfer everything in my SeaMonkey from one computer to another within minutes. A big thumb-up for this.

Click here to go to the website of MozBackup. You can download it there.

Workaround for Windows 7 to have multi-panel [All Programs] like Windows XP

The "All Programs" in the Start Menu of Windows XP is expandable to multiple panels to show all the items in it.

However, this behaviour has been changed in Windows 7, and now when you click on "All Programs", the items is listed in a short, single panel listing, and if you have a long list of installed applications, you have to scroll through the list  to reach the one you intend to open.

There is a workaround for this without having to install and make use of 3rd party Start Menu alternative program such as Vista Start Menu.

I'll share with you how to do it.

Firstly, you need to make sure the hidden ProgramData folder is visible. Go to Control Panel > Folder Options and click on View, select "Show hidden files, folders and drives" under Hidden files and folders option.

Now, right click on the round Windows logo of the Start Menu, and click on Properties. Then click the "Customize..." button.

Search for an item that you won't use (eg. Recorded TV) which can be display as a menu, check on Display as a menu for that item.

Now, you should be able to see the Recorded TV item in your Start Menu. Right click on it, and Rename it to "All Programs". After that, right click on it and select Properties.

Next, Remove the item inside the Library locations panel. Then click on "Include a folder..." button.

Then, navigate to "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" and  click the Include Folder button. No need to share this folder if you're asked about this.

You're done. Check your Start Menu and see it in action! Now you have 2 options of "All Programs", the original one which remains, and the new one you've just made.

AnDevCon - the 1st Android developer conference

For your information, BZ Media LLC, the publisher of Software Development Times, is organizing the first AnDevCon for developers, entrepreneurs and IT professionals focusing on the booming Android mobile software market.

This will be a 3 days conference. It will begin with 1 day of intensive workshops, followed by 2 days of technical classes. The conference will include a tabletop exhibit area for companies selling products and services for Android marketers and developers.

Detail as below:

• Date: 7-9 March 2011
• Venue: San Mateo in San Francisco, California, USA
• Admission: non-free, with payment

Classes and workshops at AnDevCon fall into 3 topic areas:

• Android Developer Essentials: These technical classes and workshops are for all Android developers, and cover all programming topics.
• Android Enterprise Essentials: These technical sessions cover topics specific to building and managing apps for employees, business customers and partners, such as back-end integration corporate datacenter communications, ERP or CRM systems.
• Android Business Essentials: These classes and workshops are for entrepreneurs and developers who want to learn the most effective ways of distributing and marketing Android apps, including how to maximize sales through the Android Market.

Click here for more information about the AnDevCon event.

Toyota Avanza enhancement - Titan high-low adjustable performance suspension system

I have upgraded the stock suspension of my Toyota Avanza to Titan high-low adjustable performance suspension system.

Titan is a well-known Malaysian brand of serviceable car shock absorber and suspension components, manufactured by a company called MPd Auto Centre Sdn Bhd founded in 1999 by Richard How, and located at No. 38, Jalan Mewah 3/3, Taman Perindustrian Hata, Pandan Mewah, 68000 Ampang.

Titan is highly recommended by AOCM as a replacement for the stock suspension of Toyota Avanza (either the 1.3 or the 1.5 models). Although its initial cost is higher than normal absorber, it has advantages such as:

• Height is adjustable to tune for the suspension dampening rate
• Can be custom made according to your requirement
• The package includes the whole car suspension system, i.e. absorber, spring, damper, panhard rod modification, etc.
• Serviceable, no need to replace the whole thing in the future, thus lower maintenance cost
• Has second hand resell value

Built upon inverted monotube design, Titan suspension can be adjusted to be stiffer for racing performance, and also adjustable to be softer for comfort driving. With this, the car can be tuned to greatly reduce its bumpiness and bounciness on the ride. In fact, you will be amazed by Titan's performance in handling uneven road conditions, road bumps and road holes.

If Titan is used together with the Ultra Racing bars, Toyota Avanza can have a greatly improved steady and stable ride, as well as safer and better handling for high speed and cornering.

For those who complain about stock suspension system of Toyota Avanza, this could be your solution.

Best antivirus / security suite in 2010

What is the best antivirus and/or security suite for home user now?

I believe a good security solution for home computer:

• should detect most if not all of the virus and malware.
• should be good in protecting from new/unknown virus and malware.
• should not have too much false positive.
• should not diminish the performance of the computer too much. The computer should not be sluggish when the security solution is running.
• should not consume too much CPU and memory resource.
• should be fast in scanning for virus and malware.

After reading the comparison and benchmarking reports in these websites...

• AntivirusWare
• AV-Comparatives
• Passmark Consumer Antivirus Performance Benchmarks (2011) report
• TopTenReviews
• Virus Bulletin

 I found that the best in 2010 is a competition between these 2 vendors:

• ESET
• Symantec

Slovakia company ESET produces the NOD32 Antivirus and the ESET Smart Security suite, while US company Symantec produces the Norton Antivirus and the Norton Internet Security suite.

However, in terms of pricing and availability in retail computer store in Malaysia, Symantec definitely has the upper hand.

Therefore, the best security suite in 2010 for me is Norton Internet Security 2010. I bought a genuine box of it with 1 year subscription to 3 computers at the price of RM100 in Digital Mall recently.

After installing Norton Internet Security 2010, I got free upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2011 with its Norton Update Center.

Am I scammed by the electronic ultrasonic insect repeller?

Insect and pest repelling using the electronic way isn't something new and has been around for many years. However, until today, there is still debates and doubts whether it works or not. There are lab tests showing that it totally not working, and other lab tests showing that it does work but not very effective.

In fact, there are 3 common kinds of electronic insect and pest repeller in the market:

• Electromagnetic - the device changes the wavelengths of the frequency signals that already exist in the wiring of homes, thus claimed to be able to agitate rodents and insects with these signals.
• Ultrasonic - the device emits high frequency sound above 22 khz which is unheardable by human being (thus called ultrasound) but is detectable by certain insects and rats. The effect is like putting a loud siren beside their ears and chase them away.
• Ionic - it is said that certain insects and rodents are sensitive to negative ions, so they won't go near an ionizer.

Nowadays they are even 3-in-1 products which combine all the features above, but selling at high price of above RM100.

I have 2 electronic ultrasonic insect repellers in my home, which I bought for about RM20 each in Giant hypermarket. Picture as below.

In fact, you can easily find in the Internet for circuit diagrams about electronic ultrasonic insect repellers, and can DIY make your own with some electronic knowledge and devices. Some are very simple, and here is a more complicated one from Electronic Circuits website.

Beside that, there also exist computer software that make use of the speakers to generate pest repelling ultrasonic waves, such as SEA Anti-Mosquitoes XP, KP-Anti Mosquitoes, Ultrafobos, etc. Similar applications are available for mobile devices including iPhone, Palm, etc. For normal handphones, there are also ultrasonic ringtones that you can find and download from Internet.

Is the small electronic ultrasonic device that I've bought effective to me?

I put one in my kitchen, quite near to the dining table.

Well, before using it, I used to disturbed by one or two mosquitoes at night when I used my laptop on the dining table. After using it, so far no more such mosquito disturbance.

And before using it, sometimes I saw cockroach in the kitchen when I turn on the light there during midnight. Now, so far no such engagement after using it.

It seems like it works fine for me so far, and I don't feel like scammed, although I've found quite a number of reports in the Internet saying electronic insect repellers are useless.

SunCity declared 31 sen interim dividend

Sunway City (SunCity, 双威城, 6289) has just released its 2nd quarter report for FY2010, and has declared an interim dividend of 31 sen per ordinary share of RM1.00 each less 25% income tax for the financial year ending 31 December 2010, which will be paid on a date to be determined. If I'm not mistaken, this will be the highest ever quarter dividend declared by SunCity since its IPO.

In the last quarter, SunCity also declared a dividend of 5% per ordinary share of RM1.00 each less 25% income tax, which has just gone ex yesterday (20 August 2010), which is the same day when the other 31 sen dividend was declared after the market closed. This 5% dividend will be paid on 22 September 2010.

This means that shareholders of SunCity will get dividend of at least 36 sen per share this year (there is still a 3rd quarter report to be released by this year). With the last closing price of RM3.73, the DY within the last 2 quarters is already 9.65%.

As expected by everybody, the financial position of SunCity has largely improved after the listing of Sunway REIT, although the actual IPO price of Sunway REIT (SUNREIT, 5176) on 8 July 2010 at RM0.89 is lower than the anticipated RM0.97. I think the shareholders of SunCity are rewarded with this generous dividend, as a result of this IPO exercise of  Sunway REIT.

The prospect of SunCity remains pretty positive, as written in its quarterly report:

"On 8 July 2010, the Group completed the listing of the Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust ("Sunway REIT") on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Listing"). The Group holds 36.6% in the Sunway REIT.

The Listing has reduced the Group's gearing significantly and hence enabled the Group to accelerate it's business expansion plans in the property development segment (local and overseas markets) as well as the property investment segment.

On the back of unbilled sales of RM743 million, the Group expects the property development segment to continue to contribute positively to the Group's results this financial year. While enjoying lower interest expense resulting from the reduced borrowings as mentioned above, the Group also benefits from the share of profits from the Sunway REIT while receiving manager's fees for the management of Sunway REIT.
 
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Board is of the view that the Group's performance for the financial year ending 31 December 2010 will improve."
 
With this, I feel comfortable and happy to remain as one of the shareholders of SunCity.

You might probably also be interested to read about:

• SunCity looks more attractive than Sunway REIT

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.

Intel to buy over McAfee for $7.68 billion

McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE), headquartered in Santa Clara, California, being famous for its antivirus and security solutions, will be bought over by Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) for $48 per share in cash, which is about 60% more than its listing price before announcement. The deal totalling to $7.68 billion, making it the largest acquisition attempt of Intel.

After the acquisition, McAfee will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, reporting into Intel’s Software and Services Group and managed by Renee James, their senior vice president and general manager of the group.

Intel’s president and CEO Paul Otellin called security as the “3rd pillar of what people demand from all computing experiences,” behind energy-efficient performance and connectivity.

This is another acquisition exercise of Intel right after the recently announced buying over of Texas Instruments' cable modem product unit.

Maybank2u access denied

Have you encoutered the "access denied" problem when you try to login to Maybank2u website, even though you are very sure the username and password that you keyed in is absolutely correct?

I just found out that Maybank2u will suspend your online banking account if you didn't login to it for more than 3 months. You will need to call their Customer Care number, verify yourself, then only can reactivate it.

If you didn't login your Maybank2u online banking account for more than 6 months, it will be deactivated. You will need to go to the ATM machine of Maybank to get a new PIN number with your ATM card, and reregister a new online banking account in Maybank2u.

Is this "security feature" good or bad? You comment.

OSK Investment Challenge (Campus Edition)

Beside the ECM Libra virtual investment challenge StockQuest at ecmmoney.com , OSK has also launched a similar game called OSK Investment Challenge (Campus Edition).

However, this game is only open to Malaysian students aged between 18 – 30 years with valid student IDs from colleges and universities in Malaysia.

Registration: anytime between 26 July and 1 October 2010
Contest period: 16 August - 1 October 2010

Participants will be given a virtual capital of RM100,000 to begin in this game upon signing up.

The grand prize winner will be the contestant with the highest absolute total portfolio value at the conclusion of the game, while the weekly winner will be the contestant with the highest absolute portfolio gain for the week.

The top 3 Grand Prizes include:

• 1st Prize : RM25,000
• 2nd Prize : RM10,000
• 3rd Prize : RM5,000

And the weekly contest prizes are:

• 2 winners x Acer Aspire One AOD260 Netbook (worth RM1,299 each)

Up to 20 players with the highest overall value from each college/university campus will be chosen automatically to represent their alma mater. The campus with the highest combined portfolio value will be declared OSK Investment Challenge Special College/University winner.
 
The winning campus is rewarded:

• RM100,000 worth of computer lab and equipment
• OSK Investment Challenge (Campus Edition) trophy
• Internship opportunities

All players who log in to play the game throughout the duration of the competition for at least 75% of total trading days will also get a certificate of participation from OSK Investment Bank.

Click here for more information about the OSK Investment Challenge (Campus Edition).

Common types of fire extinguishers

If you were to experience a fire situation, what would your first reaction be? Would you grab the nearest water source and throw water at the flames? Would you throw a blanket over the flames? Would you simply run out of the house?

Fire is not a force people want to experience, especially in their home or office. Fire moves quickly to devour everything in its path, holding no regard for valuables of any sort. But while we hold a certain fear of fire, unfortunately only few people take the necessary steps to add the right kind of fire extinguishers to their homes and offices.

Lets look at some common types of fire extinguishers so that you can decide which is the best type for your location.

Water fire extinguishers can be used in homes and businesses, schools, theatres, warehouses or anywhere with paper, cardboard, curtains, cloth, wood, carpet. Many people like the water extinguisher because this type is easy to refill.

However, water fire extinguishers are not suitable to be used as the only extinguisher in the home or office. Water can fight Class A fires, but NOT fires involving electrical equipment.

Powder extinguishers are also very good to have in the home or office. However, the powder extinguisher is also very good for truck drivers or those who enjoy boating. Powder can leave quite a mess when used, but the mess of powder is far less than the destruction a fire would cause.

It is important to look at the certifications when purchasing a powder extinguisher for your home, business, boat or truck. Powder fire extinguishers also require factory refilling or service-exchange every so often. The maintenance is worth it, though, as this type of fire extinguisher is suitable for virtually all areas, able to fight Class A fires (wood, paper, material, cloth, etc), Class B fires (flammable liquids such as petrol, spirits, and diesel), Class C fires (flammable gas) and electrical equipment fires.

Foam fire extinguishers (a.k.a. AFFF) are quite popular for their advanced capabilities. Aqueous Film Forming Foam or AFFF (pronounced A-triple-F) covers Class A fires (wood, paper, material, cloth, etc) and Class B (flammable liquids such as petrol, spirits, diesel).

While the AFFF foam spray versions are fitted with a special nozzle that reduces the electrical risk (tested to 35,000 volts), it is recommended that this NOT be sprayed directly on live electrical equipment. The foam extinguisher works well in homes and offices; hotels, and places where there is a risk of flammable liquids.

Carbon dioxide fire extinguishers will cover electrical fires as well as Class B fires involving flammable liquids. The Carbon dioxide extinguisher would be one that you reach for if you work on machinery that catches fire.

While this is a reliable and popular fire extinguisher, the Carbon dioxide fire extinguisher doesn’t cover all types of fires. This extinguisher would need to be paired with a Class A extinguisher (AFFF or water type) in order to provide full coverage.

Disclosure: This is an original article contributed by Fire Protection Online Ltd exclusively for this website only.

Attended the 6th AGM and 1st Investor Day of ICAP

I attended the 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of iCapital.biz Bhd (ICAP, 5108) as well as their 1st Investor Day today 14-8-2010. 14th August in Chinese (一世发) means "A Lifetime of Prosperity".

As usual, this closed-end fund is very considerate to its shareowners to conduct the AGM on Saturday, so that working people don't have to take leave to attend it.

The AGM this year was held in KL Convention Centre. 3 halls were taken, 1 for the AGM, and another 2 for the Investor Day event after the AGM.

Same as previous year, Mr. Tan Teng Boo, the fund manager of ICAP, presented a talk to all the shareowners in the hall right after the AGM. The latest investment portfolio of ICAP was disclosed, each of them were explained why they are chosen by Mr. Tan, and their financial as well as share price performance over the years.

These are the crucial benefits and priviledges of investing in the closed-end fund of ICAP from unit trust funds:

• There is an AGM every year, and EGM(s) when needed. Investors can interact with the fund manager as well as question him on his investment decision.
• The fund manager will disclose the latest full portfolio to the investors, rather than just the "largest holding shares as of several months ago" by unit trust fund managers.
• The fund manager will explain his investment view and strategy to the investors.
• There is chance when the fund is trading at a discount to its NAV, which is in favour to the investors as they can buy at a cheaper price.
• Investors can vote for the issues and matters tabled in the AGM/EGM.
• Investors can ask the board of directors, face to face, on anything in the report, especially the financial statements.

This year, ICAP has even go a step further to organise the 1st Investor Day after the AGM and talk by the fund manager. Companies that are in the investment portfolio of ICAP, including F&N, Integrax, Parkson, Suria, Mieco, etc. introduced their company, business and financial highlights to the audience in the hall. Beside having top management people to give talk and answer questions from the audiences, they also had a booth inside the hall.

Unlike the previous year where ICAP had a bullish view in Malaysia, this year, they are more cautious and have a more pessimistic view. If you have listened to the talk by ICAP, you should have sensed this too.

The door-gift bag this year has more things inside, including:

• 3 pens
• A Padini 20% discount voucher
• A pair of Royal Selangor chopsticks
• MSC key chains
• Fisherman's cap
• iCapital.biz printed version newsletters

The chopsticks are pretty nice, and if I have not heard wrongly, they are the special souvenir given with "prosperity" blessing by Mr. Tan our fund manager to all the shareowners of ICAP who present in the AGM.

The overall event last for one whole day. AGM started from 9am until 12pm. We are then given a pre-packed lunch box and a bottle of water. Investor presentations and talks started from 1pm until 6pm. There was even a lucky draw session at ICAP booth by 6pm.

I'm looking forward to attend the next AGM next year.

ECM Libra virtual investment challenge StockQuest@ecmmoney.com

ECM Libra Investment Bank has launched a virtual stock trading challenge game.

This game is open to their clients in the real world investment market only. All players must successfully open an online trading account with ECM Libra prior to the start of StockQuest@ecmmoney.com on 20 September 2010.

Each player will start with RM100,000 virtual money at the begining of the challenge. The player with highest virtual portfolio value in ranking will be the winner.

Registration: open now
Contest period: 20 September - 22 October 2010

Every week during the contest period, the weekly winner will take home RM200.

Prizes for StockQuest@ecmmoney.com final are:

• 1st Prize : RM 10,000
• 2nd Prize : RM 5,000
• 3rd Prize : RM 3,000
• 4th - 6th Prize : RM 800

Click here for more information of StockQuest.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

• OSK Investment Challenge (Campus Edition)

My CLiPtec GZJ160 universal travelling plug adaptor with USB charger port

This 85 gram, light and compact CLiPtec GZJ160 universal travelling plug adaptor with USB charger port was purchased in Digital Mall at the cost of RM25.

Its 2 main functions are:

• International universal plug adapter that supports 150+ countries
• High power auto-switching USB charger for any electronic gadgets that support battery charging with USB

I find it to be a very handy travelling companion, as it can be used to convert the power plug from one type to another, and it can also be used to provide charging power for USB devices without the need for computer with USB port.

This is how it is in action charging my Garmin Nuvi 255w GPS navigator with its DC 5V 1A USB output.

This adaptor can be plugged into 3 types of socket with its detachable 3-in-1 design as shown below:

It supports 4 international plug standards, namely:

• Europe round pin
• UK
• USA
• Australia

this makes it supports for 150+ countries.

Even at home, we can still use it as a USB charger without the need of a computer to recharge the battery in GPS, handphone, digital camera, MP4 player, etc.

HareNet 6th Parenthood Expo 2010

The annual HareNet Parenthood Expo is targetted to pregnancy, birth, babies, toddlers and parents, showcasing products and services for growing young families.

Date: 20-22 August 2010
Time: 10.30am - 9.00pm
Venue: Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (MVEC), KL
Admission: free

There will be exhibition, stage activities as well as seminar & talks.

Click here for the programme schedule of the HareNet 6th Parenthood Expo 2010.

Top 20 display cards as of end-July 2010

The top 20 high end PCI-E 16X display cards in PassMark Video Card Benchmarks as of today 29 July 2010 is as follow:

I got the estimated price as of today from the HardwareZone Price Guides.

From here, we can see that those top performance display cards are all priced above RM500.

Something very interesting I noticed in Malaysia Dell Online Store is that, there are 4 options of display card available for the Dell Studio XPS 8100 desktop PC: NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 (default), NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 (add RM205), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 (add RM409) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (add RM34).

This mean that you can actually get the high end ATI Radeon HD 5770 (ranked #20 in the benchmark above) at a minimal upgrade cost.

And here is the estimated reference price for the 4 cards based on the HardwareZone Price Guides:

• GeForce GT 220: RM280
• GeForce GTS 240: RM400 (+RM120)
• GeForce GTX 260: RM580 (+RM300)
• Radeon HD 5770: RM570 (+RM290)

It seems that ATI Radeon HD 5770 is a good buy now if you were to buy the Studio XPS 8100 computer from Dell Malaysia.

How much computer memory do you need?

Computer memory (RAM) used to be expensive stuff. However, there had been tremendous drop in RAM price around 2008 and bottomed up in mid-2009. Although now the RAM price has risen back about 100% from its historical bottom, it is still consider affortable to buy RAM in Gigabytes (instead of in Megabytes).

However, buying too much RAM is still a kind of wastage, as there might be portion of RAM that will never be used. So, how much computer memory do you actually need?

I have done some study about this in the Internet, including a report in Tom's Hardware which concluded that having more RAM does not always mean getting faster performance, and would like to put down my opinion as follow:

• If your computer is running on 32-bit operating system, you do not need more than 3GB RAM, as the maximum supported RAM by your operating system is around 3.5GB only. Any amount of RAM more than that will be completely wasted.
• There is a maximum amount of RAM supported by your computer motherboard. Older model (typically manufactured before 2007) might only support up to 2GB RAM only. Any amount of RAM more than supported will be completely wasted. Check the specification of the motherboard.
• If you use the computer for 3D games, audio and video encoding, 3GB RAM is sufficient to you.
• If you use the computer for normal application which is not too memory intensive, 2GB RAM is sufficient to you.
• If you use the computer for multitasking, always running several applications at the same time, 4GB RAM should be sufficient to you.
• If you use the computer as database server, or running multiple operating systems with virtualization, then you should go for the maximum affortable RAM amount. Nowadays RAM module of 2GB is still cheap, but more than that would still be expensive. If your computer motherboard has 4 RAM slots, you can go for 4 x 2GB = 8GB of RAM.
• Unless you are using the computer as multiuser server, normally you don't need more than 8GB RAM.

It is always a good idea to leave some spare RAM slots for future expansion when the RAM price gets even cheaper, and the computer software become more memory hungry then. As such, no need to spend money on more RAM than 8GB unless really needed now.

Calculate the recommended power supply wattage for desktop computer

If you are going to DIY build a desktop computer, you might be wondering how much wattage of power supply unit (PSU) should your computer use, that will be sufficient and not overkill.

In fact, you can calculate the recommended power supply wattage using the online eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, claimed to be "the only power supply calculator trusted by PSU manufacturers and computer enthusiasts".

Just click on either one of the links below:

• The default eXtreme PSU Calculator Lite
• Thermaltake Power Supply Calculator
• Cooler Master Power Supply Calculator

This handy tool will calculate the estimated power consumption based on information including the motherboard, CPU, video card, RAM, harddisk, disc drives, PCI cards, PCI Express cards, USB devices, fans, cooling system, etc.

Dell Malaysia monitor deals

Good news if you plan to buy a new monitor: Dell Malaysia is having monitor deals now. Last day is 29 July 2010 26 August 2010.

Here are the deals:

17" monitors:

• E170S - RM164 RM109 discount
• P170S - RM122 RM132 discount
• E1709W - RM159 RM114 discount

18.5" monitor:

• IN1920 - RM100 discount

19" monitors:

• E190S - RM194 RM132 discount
• P190S - RM113 discount
• E1910 - RM83 discount

20" monitors:

• ST2010-BLK - RM150 discount
• E2010H - RM93 RM103 discount
• 2007FP - RM305 RM239 discount
• 2009W - RM443 RM143 discount

21.5" monitors:

• SX2210T (multi-touch with webcam) - RM430 RM530 discount
• U2211H - RM169 discount
• E2210H - RM107 discount
• P2211H - RM120 RM140 discount
• U2211H - RM169 RM179 discount

22" monitors:

• 2209WA - RM262 RM190 discount
• E2210 - RM177 RM115 discount
• P2210 - RM237 RM165 discount
• U2211H - RM179 discount

23" monitors:

• U2311H - RM131 RM151 discount
• E2310H - RM243 RM160 discount
• P2311H - RM112 discount + RM50 coupon code "C55HJQRH7$5N4C"
• U2311H - RM131 RM151 discount

24" monitors:

• ST2410 - RM270 RM290 discount
• U2410 - RM316 discount + RM150 coupon code "5F7137L?4685FX" RM233 discount
• G2410H - RM127 discount

27" monitors:

• U2711 - RM437 discount + RM500 coupon code "QNS1W96C1MT$LZ"

30" monitors:

• 3008WFP - RM1,132 discount + RM700 discount RM1581 discount

Visit Dell Malaysia website for detail specification and pricing information.

* The above information is for reference only, and might not be the latest information. For actual latest discount and pricing information, please refer to Dell Malaysia website.

You might probably be interested to also read about:

• Compare LCD screen size of standard and widescreen monitors

Compare LCD screen size of standard and widescreen monitors

Nowadays there are 2 main flavours of LCD screen monitor, namely:

• Standard panel with aspect ratio of 4:3, shape similar to the screen of CRT monitors
• Widescreen panel with aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 16:10, which is the current major trend

Many might not aware that there are actually 2 types of aspect ratio for the widescreen monitor. The 16:9 aspect ratio is commonly used for television, while the longer shape 16:10 aspect ratio is more common in computer monitors.

You might have noticed that the widescreen monitor looks smaller than the standard monitor with same dimension measured in inches. The is because the measurement is on its diagonal. Widescreen panel has a longer diagonal, compared with the standard panel of same height. In other words, widescreen panel will have a shorter height than standard panel of same diagonal length.

Using some basic trigonometry calculations, I have come out with the following table to compare the estimated dimension (height x width) of  the 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 screens.

The theory is simple. Given the aspect ratio, we can find out the diagonal angle with their reverse tangent. Once we know the diagonal angle and the diagonal length of a screen, we can calculate for its height and width.

As we can see from the above table, a 23" 16:9 panel and/or a 21.5" 16:10 panel is having about the same height as a 19" standard panel.

With a shorter height, while you can enjoy a wider screen view, you probably need to do more scrolling for vertical display, as less line is shown in the widescreen.

How will be the overall viewing area then? With the above information of their height and width, it is not difficult to calculate and compare their viewing area, as shown below:

Hope that these 2 comparison tables can help you to decide and get a monitor of your right expectation.

ICAP Investor Day 2010

iCapital.biz Bhd (ICAP, 5108) is holding its Investor Day right after its 6th AGM this year.

Date: 14 August 2010
Time: 12pm - 7pm
Venue: Conference Hall 1&3, Kuala Lumpur convention Centre, KL
Admission: Free

The Investor Day will see the exclusive participation from the listed companies that ICAP has invested in.

There will be interactive Q&A sessions, presentations and exhibitions by the participating listed companies.

Topics of educational talks by Tan Teng Boo and the Capital Dynamics team on the Investor Day include:

• What is value investing
• Benefits of investing in ICAP
• The economic outlook of Malaysia, China and US
• ... and more

See you there!

Handy mini portable first aid kit

I got this mini portable first aid kit in a white box, as a door gift from the exhibition booth of ECS ICT Bhd in the Investor Expo 2010.

Seems like it is one of the "Happy Collection" gadgets from HP.

Opening the white box, is a cute black case.

And opening up the case, here are the items inside:

• 5x plasters
• 2x antiseptic wipes
• 4x gauze pads
• Small scissors
• Bandage
• Adhessive tape
• 3ml medicated oil (风油)

Pretty handy and useful, isn't it?

I started sponsoring a child in Laos through World Vision

I have just started sponsoring a child who live in the district of Phonethong (丰桐), at the northern part of Laos (寮国).

This is done by joining the World Vision Malaysia Child Sponsorship Programme by contributing RM50 per month per child.

Child sponsorship is about bringing hope and making a world of difference for a struggling child, his/her family and their community. It will help remove the obstacles of poverty and diseases placed in the child's path and help him/her discover love and the unique potential he/she possesses.

Currently, there are about one thousand children in Phonethong who are still waiting for a sponsor to provide them access to education, health care and food security.

While we are fortunate enough to be born and live in a place that have food to eat, clean water to drink, basic facilities such as electricity, transport, telephony and even Internet, we have to also realize that there are people living in other parts of the world who suffer from starvation, poverty, bad living condition, etc.

You can also sponsor a child (or more children) in those less fortunate places through World Vision, with a minimal portion of your monthly income.

This is a good deed of charity, that will plant good seeds in your karma.

Note that contribution to World Vision is not Malaysian income tax deductible, but this shouldn't be the reason to deter you, right?

Is Windows 7 Home Premium good enough? Do you need Professional or Ultimate edition?

MS Windows 7 has been around for quite some times now, and the OS for new computers nowadays will be Windows 7 (no more Vista nor XP), beside Linux.

If you were to pick Windows 7, as a home user, you have a few options. Most PC vendors will let you select between Win 7 Home Premium or Win 7 Professional.

The question that many buyer will ask: Is Win 7 Home Premium good enough? Do I need to pay extra for the extra features in Professional or even Ultimate edition?

I found a report by Ed Bott in ZDNet pretty informative.

After reading the article, I found that most home user should be enough with Home Premium, unless:

• Your computer has more than 16GB RAM, or plan to upgrade the RAM to that amount in near future.
• You want easy access to network projectors.
• You want a one-button way (the Presentation Mode) to disable things like pop-up notifications and screen savers.  
• You want a built-in Encryption File System (EFS) to encrypt a file or folder inside your Home folder so that it can only be unlocked when you log on with your user credentials. (Note: there are 3rd party alternatives which are equivalent or better than this)
• You want to have a licensed copy of Windows XP (at no additional cost) to run as virtualized machine within your Windows 7.
• You want your system image backup files to be stored across the network. (Home Premium will store it locally)
• You want a built-in folder synchronization feature similar to Windows Live Mesh. (You need to install separately for Home Premium)
• You want to make full use of Active Directory features. (Do you have many Windows PC at home until you need to use Active Directory?)
• You want a built-in Remote Desktop server for other to remotely access and control your computer.

The above are additional features in Win 7 Professional on top of Home Premium. And the below are additional features in Win 7 Ultimate on top of Professional:

• Boot from virtual hard drive
• Availability of Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packs. (Language Interface Pack is available for other editions of Win 7)
• BranchCache and DirectAccess to improve connectivity on networks that use Windows Server 2008 R2
• AppLocker
• BitLocker drive encryption
• Subsystem for UNIX applications

Mystery code "9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a" in US Cyber Command emblem cracked

The emblem/logo of newly established United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) has something unique from the emblems of other units in US Department of Defence (DoD).

If you look carefully, you will notice a ring of mystery code "9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a" along the inner gold ring of the emblem.

Over the past few days, this code has become the hot discussion in the Internet, and also well reported in the news media. By now, the code has been cracked.

It is the MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) cryptographics hash of US Cyber Command's mission statement, which is:

USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

In fact, the message above cannot be "decrypted" from the code itself, as MD5 is a kind of cryptographic hashing method instead of 2-way encryption. However, if you know the original text, you will get back the same code by hashing it with MD5.

One major use of MD5 is to verify the integrity of files and messages stored in the computer and/or transferred over the network. If the content is not the same from its origin, the MD5 code generated will be different. We call this unique verification code a "checksum".

Let's try yourself to generate the MD5 code for the above mission statement here. You can also try to crack it here. If you wonder how it can be cracked, just read the explanation on that webpage.

2nd Investor Expo 2010 @ KLCC

Organized by ShareInvestor and Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA) for the 2nd year after successfully held in 2008, Investor Expo 2010 that claimed to be one of the largest investment exhibitions in Asia is coming again.

Date: 17-18 July 2010 (Sat & Sun)
Time: 10am - 8pm
Venue: Exhibition Hall 5, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KL
Admission: Free

Interesting topics and speakers includes:

• "Malaysia's Economy - Sunrise or Sunset?" by Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武) of Capital Dynamics
• "Intelligent Investors DO NOT Buy Low, Sell High"by Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武) of Capital Dynamics
• "Stock Market Outlook - Rest of 2010" by Teoh Ghim Meng (G.M. Teoh)
• "Harvesting Profits from Crude Palm Oil Futures"by Teoh Ghim Meng (G.M. Teoh)
• "Roadmap to Financial Freedom" by Yap Ming Hui (叶明辉) of Whitman Independent Advisors
• "Strategies to Make Consistent Profits in the Stock Market" by Adam Khoo
• "Market Outlook - Double Dip or Sweet Spot?" by Lorraine Tan of S&P
• Panel Discussion on "Malaysian Market Outlook vs. the World Market" with Lorraine Tan, Tan Teng Boo and Lee Cheng Hooi
• "New Age Investing - What Works Today" by Terence Tan of Mastery Asia
• "Understanding and Appreciating Investment-Grade Wines and En-Primeur Investing" by Chad Merchant of Premium Liquid Assets
• "3rd Quarter Financial Year 2010 Market Outlook" by Chan Ken Yew of MIMB Investment Bank
• "The Psychology of Investment" by Carol Yip of Abacus for Money
• "The Right Mindset for Long Term Investment" by Ooi Kok Hwa
• "The Magic of Property Investment" by Leow Yeow Ming of MasteryAsia
• "Residential and Office Property Market Outlook 2010: Is the Malaysian Market in a Boom?" by Allan Soo
• "Commercial and Retail Property Market Outlook 2010: Is the Malaysian Market in a Boom?" by Christopher Boyd
• "Get Rich Quick Scheme" by Bank Negara Malaysia
• and more...

Beside the free seminars, this event also features 40 exhibition booths, set up by both financial institutions and listed companies, functioning as a direct and effective platform for investors to grow their understanding of new and sophisticated investment vehicles.

See you there!

Click here to go to the official website of Investor Expo 2010.

How an automatic fire extinguisher can save your life

There are a great deal of benefits involved with having an automatic fire extinguisher. Whether it is for your home or office, it can certainly save your property and can also serve to save lives.

If you don't know what an automatic fire extinguisher is, it can be explained pretty quickly. Basically, it is an extinguisher or water sprinkler that is installed in the ceiling. Depending on the model of extinguisher, it is either turned on by heat, smoke or emissions.

These can be extremely useful in the case of a fire starting when no one is around, or even when the occupants of a house are asleep. They have served to save thousands of lives over the years on top of the millions of dollars in property.

But if you are thinking of installing an automatic fire extinguisher, you need to know what to look for.

First of all, you need to understand the classes of fires. Depending on the room that it is installed in, there will be a difference in the type of extinguisher that you need.

If you are installing one in a room filled with electronics then you will require a Class B or C automatic fire extinguisher. But if you are installing one in the bedroom, then you will likely only require a Class A. In order to make the proper decision, it is advisable to talk to a fire safety professional about your specific home or office. They will be able to advise you of the best and safest choice for your specific living conditions.

The main point of an automatic fire extinguisher is to keep the fire at bay until the proper personnel arrive on scene. Although, depending on the size of the fire, they can in fact serve to completely put it out. But in the case of a large fire, their purpose is to contain the fire and to ensure that it doesn't burn out of control.

Although they can be used in homes, they are most often found in large office buildings and warehouses. Especially in a working situation that has a high chance of a fire erupting.

One thing is for certain no matter what type of fire situation you find yourself in: if you don't know the different classes of fires, you are putting yourself in even more danger than is already presented.

Using some methods, such as water in a Class C fire can prove to be deadly. But water in fact works wonderfully in a Class A fire. Therefore, it is crucial to know exactly what kind of fire you are dealing with before taking the appropriate action. You want to make the fire less harmful, not more. And you certainly don't want to risk your life will trying to save your home or office.

Automatic fire extinguishers are proven to save countless lives every year. So if you think you could benefit from one, start the research process as soon as possible.

Disclosure: This is an original article contributed by Fire Protection Online Ltd exclusively for this website only.