Panasonic NI-100DX cordless non-stick dry iron

This Panasonic NI-100DX is a basic dry iron, without fancy features and not of the steam iron type. As such, its price is very affordable too.

What makes it different is that it is formed by 2 separate parts: the main body and a base.

Its base contains the power cord to be plugged into the wall socket, and there is a storage compartment for this power cord, making it tidy and easy to carry around, suitable to be a travelling companion.

When the iron parked at its base with power on, its non-stick soleplate will heat up within 1-2 minutes and ready for use. This base also ensure you'll place it properly when you remove your hand off its handle, without accidentally heating on surface that not suppose to contact with its hot soleplate.

The iron with ergonomic handle is only 1.4kg. It is very easy to maneuver without any attached power cord during ironing. You can now iron in any direction and free from the hassle of tangling power cord.

I have been using it for several weeks. Its cordless feature really brings a good user experience.

Multifunctional digital alarm clock with calendar, temperature, humidity, weather display and time projector

Today I would like to share with you a China made multifunctional digital alarm clock with cool features and cheap price, which I purchased online. The model no. is DS-8190.

This clock can operate either using 2 AAA batteries or 4.5V DC current input.

I called it an alarm clock because when operate using the AAA batteries, its backlight will turn off to conserve the battery life, and you need to press its top button to turn the backlight on in order to see a clear colourful display on its screen. The backlight will be off again within a few seconds.

Without the backlight, the screen is too dim, although you can still be able to see the screen display with close observation. This is ideal for it to be an alarm clock, because its screen will be too bright with the backlight on.

On its screen, this clock is able to show the time in either 24 hours or AM/PM format, a full calendar from year 2001-2099 with the day of week, and it has sensors to track the humidity and temperature. Based on it tracked humidity and temperature data, it is able to estimate the weather condition.

The backlight of the clock is always on when it operates with 4.5V DC current. You need a separate AC/DC adaptor for this to work. I use a Lemax 500mA universal safety AC/DC adaptor with polarity dial (model S69D), and this is my setting for it to work with the clock:

Somebody has shown in Youtube about how he modified the circuit of the clock to make its backlight always on when operated with batteries. Perhaps he hasn't tried using the AC/DC adaptor, which serves the same purpose without the need of hassle to modify the clock internal circuit.

On the right hand side of the clock is a small projector, which will project the time onto the wall or ceiling when its backlight is turned on.

The projected time is quite bright and can be seen even at daytime. It seems to be even brighter and able to reach a longer distance when the surrounding is dark at night.

This feature is pretty interesting, enabling us to easily check the time when we awake at night. However, its backlight is too bright and glary at night. Perhaps it should have a setting to turn on the projector while still keeping the backlight of the screen off. That will make it perfect.

Lastly, as an alarm clock, when the alarm mode is turned on, it will beep when the preset alarm time is reached. The beeping interval will gradually become faster and faster, until you press down its top button.

Alert: your password stored in web browsers can easily be retrieved and revealed by WebBrowserPassView

WebBrowserPassView by NirSoft is a Windows freeware password recovery tool that can reveal the websites password information that you have stored in web browsers including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera.

This means that anybody who has physical or remote access to your computer, or any malicious software that gain access to your computer, can easily retrieve your login name and password stored in the web browsers.

These user names and passwords might include login access information to Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, forums, and even your Internet banking accounts, as long as you have stored them in your web browser under the AutoComplete or AutoFill feature.

Therefore, it is advisable not to store your password in your web browser. You can store your password in a more secured mechanism such as Norton Identity Safe which provides you the similar autocomplete feature but storing your passwords in a more secured way.

Recuva - freeware to recover deleted photo / video / music / document / email from SD card / hard disk / USB thumb drive / iPod

If you want to recover or undelete your deleted or lost files (photo, video, music, document, email, etc.), you can try a Windows freeware called Recuva by Piriform.

Recuva works on any rewriteable storage media you have, including internal and external harddisk, SD card, USB thumb drive, and even iPod. It is possible to recover from damaged or formatted disks too.

Beside that, it is also able to try to recover your deleted emails from MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Live Mail, or Mozilla Thunderbird.

It can even try to recover unsaved MS Word document after a MS Word crash.

Using Recuva is pretty easy and straightforward. You just need to specify the location of your lost file...

... and then the file type...

... then Recuva will start to do the searching.

It will then list out the recoverable files for you to choose and restore them in a new storage location of your choice.

Beside the free Recuva, there are also paid version including Recuva Profession and Recuva Business Edition which include advanced features and professional technical support from Piriform.

Jisan JS-510 51000mAh Li-Polymer slim power bank

There is a Jisan brand 51000mAh high capacity Li-Polymer power bank selling online in some Malaysian e-commerce websites at pretty low price.

It claims to be manufactured in Korea, but when you search the Internet about "Jisan power bank", there is not much info other than the e-commerce webpages. The domain name "jisangroups.com" is even inactive. Most if not all the selling websites are based in Malaysia.

The power bank does have a premium metallic look and feel, but its packaging doesn't match the premium feeling. The English on the packaging (both the language and the text content) is not up to standard as well.

It provides 1 year limited warranty, with a Warranty Card inside, but there is no manufacturer detail nor contact, and the Warranty Card is not professionally designed and written. In fact, the warranty is provided by the dealer.

It says its protection circuit module is based on "Yeonhan Technology by Jisan".

All these signs make me suspect that this power bank is actually made in China by a manufacturer related to OEM factory called Yeon Han, and OEM to a Malaysian dealer with the Jisan brand, and possibly nothing to do with Korea.

This power bank is quite long (about 15cm), but not too heavy.

Given its slim design, I believe it uses the single cell 3.7v Li-Polymer flat cell as battery. This kind of battery is the same kind of Li-Po battery commonly used in hand phones and compact cameras nowadays, and is lighter and better design than the Li-Ion 18650 battery pack used in some other power banks.

However, looking at its size and weight, unless it uses a new kind of battery technology which can have extremely high energy density, I doubt its real capacity can be as high as 51000mAh. Its size and weight is more realistic for it to be around 15000mAh instead. I haven't tested on its real capacity yet, hopefully I am wrong and it really can discharge near to 51000mAh from fully charged state. Then it will be really value for money at its price.

Hopefully it has a good protection circuit module as it claimed. I do notice that its temperature doesn't change much during charging, which is a good sign.

After all, I believe this should be a good quality product, although seems to be overly done in marketing propaganda.

My home audio-visual system comprises Samsung 7-series UHD 4K smart TV, 4.2 channels wireless soundstand and Blu-ray disc player

I have just set up a new home audio-visual system comprise of 3 Samsung products:

• Samsung UA40HU7000R 7-series 40" UHD 4K Flat Smart TV (cost: RM2349)
• Samsung HW-H600 Wireless Soundstand (cost: RM639)
• Samsung BD-F5100XM Blu-ray Player (cost: RM179)

Total cost including GST = RM3167

All 3 of them are of last year old model. If I were to buy them when they newly hit the market, I might need to fork out double the cost or more to take them home. This is kind of delayed gratification to get the same thing at lower cost.

I have checked the running hour of the Samsung TV and confirmed that it is new and never been used before.

Also connected to this Samsung TV are my existing devices:

• Astro B.yond set top box (main source for TV programmes)
• HiMedia Q5II Android 3D TV box (main source for Internet streaming videos + TV games)
• UniFi HyppTV set top box (backup source for TV programmes)

I have chosen a 7-series UHD 4K smart TV, although a lower series Full HD TV is cheaper, because besides the UHD 4K resolution of 3840 x 2160, the 7-series also equipped with 4 HDMI ports, 3 USB ports, LAN port, built-in wireless LAN, analog audio out, digital optical audio out, 2 composite input groups, 1 component input groups, and other connectivities which is pretty comprehensive and sufficient.

If I choose a larger 50" screen of the same Samsung 7-series UHD 4K smart TV, I would need to fork out additional RM1200 from my pocket. By choosing the 40" screen model, I can upgrade it with a wireless soundstand and Blue-ray player, yet the combined cost is still cheaper than buying the 50" screen model.

The main reason to go for Samsung LED TV is for its picture quality and vibrant colour display. The UHD 4K screen offers 4 times resolution than the Full HD screen. The TV supports 4-steps UHD up-scaling to convert lower resolution content to a level of clarity that is almost like Ultra High Definition.

This TV is equipped with Clear Motion Rate (CMR) technology of 200 powered by Ultra Clear Panel and quad-core processor.

Being a smart TV, when connected to the Internet either using wired LAN or WiFi, you can access to Samsung Smart Hub and install apps to the TV, browse websites with its built-in browser, and perform firmware update over the Internet.

It also comes with Samsung Smart Remote Control, which can act as a pointer, and also be used as voice input device to issue voice control command to the TV.

There is an IR blaster gadget comes together with this TV. Connecting it to the IR Out port of the TV and place the round blaster in front of my Astro B.yond set top box, I can use the TV remote control to switch the Astro box on/off together with the TV, and can also use the TV remote control to change the Astro channel (instead of using the Astro remote control).

This TV is supposed to support Screen Mirroring from Samsung mobile devices, but I have difficulty in making it works with my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0.

This TV also supports the Samsung Smart View 2.0 app for my smart phone to share multimedia content with it, and also act as a remote control. I do find the remote control in this app better than the Samsung Smart Remote Control, as the physical remote control lack of physical numeric keypad and more difficult to directly change to a preferred channel.

The Samsung HW-H600 4.2 Channels Wireless Soundstand greatly enhance the sound quality of the TV, especially when the Surround mode is turned on. It is designed to lay flat and be placed under the TV. This design saves space, and eliminate the clutter of having many speakers in normal Hi-Fi system.

This Samsung HW-H600 is classified as a mid-range Hi-Fi device, so do not expect it to perform the same as those high end Hi-Fi speakers, which costs more than 3 times its price. Its 4.2 channels comprises of 4 bass-reflex speaker drivers and dual built-in subwoofers, which is richer than those 2.1 (stereo + subwoofer) sound bars.

There are many ways it can connect to the TV, including the wireless TV SoundConnect, wired HDMI ARC connect, audio cable connect, etc. I find the audio cable connect is more straightforward and easier to configure.

The Soundstand has a USB port, and can play MP3 music when connected to a USB thumb drive with MP3 files in it.

It also can pair with mobile devices to play MP3 music or receive phone audio output via Bluetooth connection. It comes with an NFC sticker to facilitate easier Bluetooth pairing with smartphone that support NFC.

The Blu-ray disc player completes the audio-visual system by adding ability to play music, video or photo stored in Blu-ray / DVD / VCD / CD disc.

This Samsung BD-F5100XM does not support playing of 3D Blu-ray movie. It supports full HD (1920x1080) and can upscale DVD to this level, but it does not support UHD.

It also comes with a USB port, which function similarly with the USB port in the TV and Soundstand.

It has a LAN port to connect to the Internet, and comes with some apps including Youtube, Facebook, etc. However, I prefer to use the Youtube and Facebook apps in the smart TV, which can be accessed more directly. It does not support WiFi connection.

There is newer Blu-ray player model that support WiFi connection, 3D Blu-ray movie playing, UHD picture quality, etc. The cost will be at least double the price of this Samsung BD-F5100XM.

My Toshiba AW-DC1000CM 9kg washing machine

I have just replaced my Panasonic NA-F90GS 9kg washing machine with a new Toshiba AW-DC1000CM 9kg washing machine.

The main reason to finalize on this Toshiba model is because it has similar footprint with the Panasonic NA-F90GS, and can fit into the same place without any problem. Furthermore, this Toshiba AW-DC1000CM comes with a generous 2+3+13 years of warranty.

The Toshiba AW-DC1000CM features a Direct Drive Inverter Motor and Zero Standby Power technology, which I believe can save more electricity than its predecessor.

It doesn't come with Toshiba's latest Magic Drum innovation, as I can't find any Toshiba DD Inverter washing machine of 9kg capacity with Magic Drum in it, otherwise I will consider getting the one with Magic Drum feature.

For Regular mode washing, this Toshiba AW-DC1000CM washing machine operates similar with the Panasonic NA-F90GS, but much more quieter.

On top of the Zero Standby Power, this Toshiba AW-DC1000CM has some other features that are not found in the Panasonic NA-F90GS, including lid lock and child proof safety, tub clean, quick shirt wash, etc.

It lacks the small water filter, which is a special feature in the Panasonic NA-F90GS. However, my Bacfree ER-19 rocket-style outdoor water filter works pretty well, so the small water filter in washing machine is not a necessity.

My Panasonic NA-F90GS is still working fine, and will be moved to my apartment to continue its service.

My Panasonic NR-BW465XS 2-doors fridge

I have just replaced my Toshiba GRH-47MTV 3-doors (470 litres) refrigerator with a new Panasonic NR-BW465XS 2-doors (450 litres) refrigerator.

The main reason to finalize on this Panasonic model is because it has similar footprint with the Toshiba GRH-47MTV, and can fit into the same place without any problem.

Although the gross capacity of this Panasonic fridge is smaller than its predecessor, its net storage capacity  of 400 litres is in fact slightly larger than the 395 litres of the Toshiba fridge.

This Panasonic NR-BW465XS refrigerator is of energy saving type with inverter technology, U-Vacua vacuum insulation, and ECO NAVI sensors. It has a 5-star energy efficiency rating.

Its freezer has a star rating of 4, which means it can freeze fresh food and store frozen food for 3 to 12 months.

The design of this fridge is also "inverted" when compared with most other fridges. Its drawer-type freezer compartment is at the bottom. Its height-adjustable shelves are located on top of the refrigerator compartment, followed by a 47 litres vegetable case, then its chilled case.

However, the design of its door shelves is "normal", with 2 egg shelves on top, and then 2 bottle shelves at the bottom.

It has a Quick Freezing button on its door panel, which function is pretty well self-explained. Once pressed, it fridge will go into Quick Freezing mode for 150 minutes before returning to normal mode. Quick Freezing can be cancelled by pressing the same button again.

It has Ag+ anti-bacterial feature, which is quite common in modern refrigerators nowadays. Beside that, it also has deodorizing function, and it utilizes blue and green LED lights for fruits and vegetables to maintain vitamin C contents. The vegetable case stores the fruits and vegetables in high humidity of about 91.5% and constant temperature to keep them fresh and remain juicy.

When this fridge operates to cool down its compartments, you can hear some noise when you are near to it. The noise will reduce after it stabilized for a while.

The only drawback of this Panasonic NR-BW465XS refrigerator is that, its vegetable case is smaller than the vegetable compartment of Toshiba GRH-47MTV. Other than this, I would see it as an upgrade to the Toshiba GRH-47MTV in all aspects.

My Toshiba GRH-47MTV is still working fine, and will be moved to my apartment to continue its service.

How many hours to wait before power on a refrigerator after moving it

If you bought a new refrigerator which will be delivered from the shop/warehouse, travelling on a lorry/van to your house, unloaded and placed at your desired location, you will most likely be advised to only turn it on after a couple of hours.

The timeframe of such advice can vary from 30 minutes to as long as 24 hours.

This waiting period also applies when you move your fridge from one location to another, be it within your house, or from your house to another house.

I have done quite an extensive Internet searching regarding this power on waiting period for refrigerator after moving, and believe that the following information is pretty reliable.

The waiting period is for the oil that lubricates the cylinders in the compressor of the refrigerator to settle down to where it should reside, with the help of the gravity.

You will need a shorter period (as short as 5 minutes) of waiting time if the refrigerator is always in upright position when being moved.

If you tilted the refrigerator for less than 30 degree, there will be chances for the oil to spill over into the tubes behind the refrigerator. This kind of tilting is common when it is loaded and unloaded from a lorry/van. It is better for you to wait for 1 hour to let the oil in the tube to gradually move back to where it supposes to be.

If the tilting is more than 30 degree, or the refrigerator has been laid down horizontally, it is better for you to wait for 4 hours or more.

If the refrigerator has been put in upside down position (which shouldn't be in common sense), then you will need to wait for 24 hours or more.

If you are unsure, just wait for at least 4 hours before power it on after it has settled down in its new place.

What are the dangers of turning on the refrigerator immediately or with too short waiting period?

• The motor might subject to damage due to lack of lubrication.
• The oil might clog in the tube, causing malfunction to the refrigerator.

Converting Samsung BD-F5100 Blu-ray & DVD player to become region free (unlocked)

Most genuine DVD and Blu-ray movie discs carry a region code, and the movie can only be played in a Blu-ray and/or DVD player with firmware having the same region code with the disc.

Depends on the manufacturer of the Blu-ray / DVD player, certain players don't implement the region code checking and restriction, and can play the dics from all region. Certain other branded players, particularly Samsung, Sony, etc. impose the region code restriction.

For DVD, the region code is assigned as follow:

• 0 = Playable in all regions
• 1 = North America, Hawaii and Bermuda
• 2 = Middle East, Western Europe, Central Europe, Egypt, French overseas territories, Greenland, Japan, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland
• 3 = Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan 
• 4 = Australia, New Zealand, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Oceania, South America
• 5 = The rest of Africa, Former Soviet Union, the Indian subcontinent, Mongolia, North Korea
• 6 = Mainland China

For Blu-ray, the region code is assigned as follow:

• A = East Asia (except Mainland China and Mongolia), Southeast Asia, North America, South America and their dependencies
• B = Africa, Southwest Asia, Europe (except Russia and Kazakhstan), Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) and their dependencies
• C = Central Asia, East Asia (Mainland China and Mongolia only), South Asia, central Eurasia and their dependencies

The problem with this region code is that, if you are staying in Southeast Asia and want to play a Hollywood DVD movie in genuine discs, the movie might not play due to this region code restriction. This actually encourages people to look for pirated copy or to download the DVD ripped copy from the Internet.

Anyhow, there are methods to hack certain Bly-ray and/or DVD players by hardware chip modification, or just by unlocking the region restriction using the remote control.

I have a Samsung BD-F5100 Blu-ray & DVD player shipped with the latest firmware version 1019.0. Its region code for DVD and Blu-ray is stated on the label stuck behind the unit.

The steps to unlock this Samsung BD-F5100 Blu-ray & DVD player to make it region free and enabling it to play DVD from all the regions are as below.

Step 1: Take out any disc in the player, and power off the unit.

Step 2: Switch it on. Wait until the Main Menu of the player appears on the TV screen.

Step 3: Press the REPEAT button (the black button under the yellow "C") on its remote control.

Step 4: Use the keypad on remote control to punch in the following 5 digits, depends on the DVD region code stated in the label (the DVD region code in the picture above is "3").

For Region 1: 2 9 3 3 4
For Region 2: 5 7 5 3 8
For Region 3: 5 6 7 3 2
For Region 4: 7 6 8 8 4
For Region 5: 5 3 8 1 4 
For Region 6: 2 4 4 6 2

Step 5: Once you punched in the above 5-digit codes, you will see your current region code shown up on the top left corner in your TV screen. Before this region code disappears, quickly punch in "9" with your remote control.

Step 6: The number on the TV screen will change to "9". Wait for it to disappear.

Step 7: Power off the player.

Your BD-F5100 player should be unlocked to region free by now. Repeat Step 1 to Step 4 above, you will be able to see your region code has changed to "0".

Test it with a DVD disc from different region. The movie should be able to play in your player now.

Eco Breeze EB-2228 ceiling mount air circulator with LED lights and ionizer

I have recently installed an Eco Breeze EB-2228 ceiling mount air circulator with LED lights and ionizer.

It is basically a small fan with energy saving motor (claimed to be able to save up to 30% electricity) function to improve air circulation and regulate the room temperature, best working together with a nearby air-cond. It will boost the cooling effectiveness and efficiency of the air-cond, and claimed to be able to save up to 20% electricity consumption cost of air-cond too.

Under the fan is a 360 degree air jet rotation grill, which can let us manually direct the air blowing direction by stopping the grill rotation at a fixed position, or to let the air circulate 360 degree by keeping the jet rotating.

Surrounding the grill are several blue and white colour LED lights (the black dots in the photo above. They are off when the photo was taken), which will produce a soft, dim, aesthetic lighting.

There is a built in ionizer, which can be manually turned on or off.

At the outer part are 4 E27 lamp bulb base, which can put in LED bulbs. The light bulbs do not come together with the air circulator package, and need to purchase separately. In the photo above, I use the 5 watts warm white (yellowish) LED bulbs, which are pretty bright when all 4 of them are turned on.

This Eco Breeze air circulator comes with an all-in-one remote control, which can control separately for:

• Fan on/off
• Fan speed (slow, medium, high)
• Louver vent oscillation on/off
• Ionizer on/off
• On/off timer (2, 4, 6 hours)
• Light on/off
• Circulation among 5 lighting modes

The 5 lighting modes are:

• Single LED blue light
• 4 LED white light
• Air circulator internal blue light
• 2 diagonal light bulbs
• 4 light bulbs

After installation, this Eco Breeze EB-2228 air circulator is flat with the ceiling. It needs a 6 inches space above the ceiling to fit in completely.

The fan blades is pretty short though. Therefore, do not expect the wind produced will be as powerful as normal ceiling fan or wall fan, which has longer blades than this air circulator. After all, it is meant to circulate the air and best working together with nearby air-cond or ceiling fan, rather than blowing air like normal fan by itself.

Yale YKB/200/CB2 20 hooks security key cabinet box with combination lock

I have just purchased a Yale YKB/200/CB2 20 hooks security key cabinet box with combination lock to secure and organize my apartment keys.

This key box with powder coated black surface can be wall mounted. It can be secured with its 3-dial resettable combination lock. This keyless access design is the main attraction for me to buy it, as most other similar products are using normal key lock, causing the user to still need to carry the key to unlock the box.

This key box is pretty small. Its dimension is 20cm x 16cm x 8cm. It contains 20 key hooks inside, able to store many keys. You can lock your car's remote control and apartment door/lift access RFID cards in it too.

JetBox air-cond cleaning service by Dustbox Solutions

Dustbox Solutions has just performed an impressive cleaning service for the 4 units of air conditioners at my home today.

Engaging a good air-cond cleaning service provider is not easy. The price to clean one unit of split wall-mounted air-cond (for both indoor and outdoor unit) in Klang Valley can range from around RM75 to around RM200.

The price tag might or might not be related to the following factors:

• Type of cleaning (e.g. chemical clean, water clean, ...)
• Type of air-cond (e.g. inverter type normally cost more, higher HP normally cost more, ...)
• Technology use
• Comprehensiveness of the scope of service
• Workmanship
• After service warranty period

The Jetbox air-cond cleaning service by Dustbox Solutions cost me RM120 per unit, regardless of the HP of the air-cond, which I find is value for money. All my air-conds are normal type (not inverter type), and the one with the highest power is 2 HP.

The payment can be made using credit card on their website while booking for their service online. There will be surcharge if you opt to pay by cash when the actual service commenced on site.

The company sent 2 workers to my house, and they used about 45 minutes to clean one unit of air-cond with their JetBox power cleaning technology. They carry a blue JetBox with them to perform the cleaning, which I was told the machine is R&D from their own company.

They have even put up the video below in YouTube to explain about the JetBox indoor unit service.

The scope of service covers:

• Outdoor unit checking for compressor fan, running capacitor, refrigerant gas pressure, and copper pipe liquid.
• Indoor unit checking for swinging flap function, water leaking observation, visual check, air temperature check, and air flow check.
• Refill of R22a gas.
• Outdoor unit cleaning with chemical, rinse the condenser coil and compressor cover, check fan bearing and lubricate.
• Indoor unit cleaning with chemical covering coil unit, barrel fan, covers, filters, louver & drain pan, treat condensate drain with anti-algae, disinfect and wipe cover.

I was given a detail service report for each unit of the air-conds (the scope of service listed above is copied from the checklist in the report), and 3 months of workmanship warranty.

If there is any faulty in terminal wire, supply wire, relay/fan capacitor, compressor, motor, gas leakage, run capacitor, etc., their worker can perform a repair for you with additional repair charges.

I am satisfied with their service and will engage them again for air-cond cleaning service in the future.

Investment opportunity in TravelCenters of America (NYSE:TA)

Some background information provided by the company to its investors:

TravelCenters of America (NYSE:TA) is the largest publicly-traded operator/franchisor of full-service highway Refuel-Replenish-Refresh (RRR) travel centers in the United States.

As of 31 March 2015, the Company's business included 251 travel centers, 175 of which were operated under the "TA" brand name and 76 of which were operated under the "Petro Stopping Centers" brand name located in 43 states.

TA and Petro Stopping Centers have the largest sites on average, with full-service offerings that include diesel and gasoline fuel, truck maintenance and repair, full-service and fast food restaurants, large convenience stores, car and truck parking and other services dedicated to serving professional truck drivers and highway motorists.

As of 31 March 2015, TravelCenters of America also operated 60 convenience stores with retail gasoline stations, primarily under the "Minit Mart" brand name.

When the US market opened on Thursay 7 May 2015, TA share price hit a 52-weeks record high of US$18.10 right after it announced its first quarter result. Surprisingly, right after the stock price hit this 52-weeks high, it slumped down all the way to close at US$14.98 on Friday 8 May 2015, wiping out more than one month previous price gain since its rally from March 2015 onwards.

Graph snapshotted from Google Finance

What's going on? I think The Specialist has written a nice article to explain about the situation in Seeking Alpha website titled "Oops, TravelCenters Of America Did It Again - Buy Time?" and I am pretty agreeable with his view. I'm not going to repeat the content in his article here, you can click the link and read his report if you are interested.

The diagrams about TA below are taken from NASDAQ Stock Market website.

The chart above shows that TA's revenue (US$1.407 billion) dropped a lot in first quarter of fiscal year 2015, compared with previous years in 2014 and 2013.

However, its EPS (US$0.41) recorded in the quarter increased a lot compared with previous years in 2014 and 2013. This means its profit margin actually jacked up a lot, which is the key argument point of The Specialist in his article.

When we look further to more older data...

we'll find out that TA actually used to make lost in first quarter almost every year, and its earning has a cyclical pattern which is normally weak during the 4th and 1st quarter, and will turn strong during the 2nd and 3rd quarter.

From here, we observed that:

• TA's result in Q1-2015 is actually very impressive. It is a hefty 40 fold from previous year, not to mention traditionally it is "suppose" to make lost during this quarter.
• Barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect TA's result in Q2 and Q3 will be better than Q1, as that is its cyclical trend for years.

In fact, we can see the institutional investors have more buying than selling of TA during this price drop after it hit 52-weeks high.

One month ago, Zacks Equity Research has written a report explaining the 3 Reasons Value Stock Investors Will Love TA, and I believe the points are still intact as of today.

So, is this really a great investment opportunity given by its price drop? You can continue to find out more facts and figures about it.


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 the stock market.

Disabling customized ringtone in Whatsapp message notification

Recently, whenever a person in my Android phone's contact who I have set a customized ringtone sends a Whatsapp text message to me, my phone will play the ringtone as if the person is voice calling me.

This is very annoying and not a Whatsapp "feature" I want. Firstly, it really confused me as I always tought the person is calling me instead of sending Whatsapp message to me. Secondly, the ringtone MP3 is quite long to play. Imagine how frustrating to wait for it to stop everytime it plays just because a new Whatsapp message is received.

Luckily, I found the place to disable this annoyance.

To disable it in Whatsapp, go to Settings > Notifications and untick the checkbox of Contact Ringtone under Message Notifications.

This is another Contact Ringtone for Whatsapp calls which you can see when you scroll down the above screen, and I am OK with that.

If Whatsapp really want to put a feature for customized message tone, they should make use of the SMS tone instead of the call ringtone. I consider this as an annoying bug, and ought to be fixed in their next version release.

Updated my Samsung Galaxy Tab (GT-P1000) to Storm CyanogenMod 11 with Android 4.4.4 (Kitkat) from stock firmware of Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread)

My first generation 7" Samsung Galaxy Tab (GT-P1000) is aged, but is tough and still functioning well.

Although it only has a single core CPU, 512MB RAM and 16GB internal storage, it is still capable to handle most of the task as an Android tablet, especially with the newer firmware of Android Kitkat and above.

However, its official firmware by Samsung is stuck at the last generation Android version 2.3.3 (Gingerbread), last updated a few years ago.

Luckily, there are supporters and developers who keep working on its latest unofficial firmware. One of them is Storm31 who makes customized version of Cyanogenmod Android OS for this Samsung Galaxy Tab.

With this unofficial firmware using Android Kitkat, the Samsung Galaxy Tab runs even smoother,  more powerful and more feature rich than its latest stock Gingerbread firmware.

I have successfully updated my GT-P1000 from stock Android 2.3.3 to Storm CM11 Android 4.4.4, and I'll share with you how to do it.

First of all, backup all the data in your tab that you want to save to your PC or to its external SD card. Warning: this upgrade will wipe out everything and no user data will left behind in the tab. You better save all the data you want to save now.

Then, remove the external SD card from the tab. If you keep the SD card in the tab, the data in it might be wiped out too.

Download the following files:

• GB-Stock-Safe-v5.zip (287.91 MB)
• Samsung_GT-P1000_CyanogenMod_install_all_in_one.zip (192.24MB)
• cm-10.2-20131104-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip (185.18 MB)
• cm-11-20150428-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip (212.4MB)
• pa_gapps-modular-pico-4.4.4-20150308-signed.zip (99.2MB)

GB-Stock-Safe-v5.zip contains the latest official stock firmware for GT-P1000. You'll need this in case you bricked your tab along the upgrading process. This will restore your tab back to its original state with stock firmware of Android 2.3.3 (but without any user data).

Inside it you'll also find Samsung USB driver for Windows which you need to connect your computer to your tab in order to perform the upgrade. If you have already installed the Samsung USB driver in your computer before, then you don't need to install it again.

Inside it you can also find Odin 1.7, the firmware flashing tool to flash the firmware file(s) from your computer to your tab using the USB cable.

Samsung_GT-P1000_CyanogenMod_install_all_in_one.zip contains the ClockworkMod (CwM) Recovery, the CM 9.1 firmware, and a later version of Odin 1.85.

Note that you cannot upgrade your firmware from stock Android 2.3.3 directly to CM 11. You need to replace the stock firmware with CM 9.1 first, then update it to CM 10.2, then only to the latest CM 11 or upcoming CM 12.

You need to replace the stock Recovery in the tab's ROM with ClockworkMod Recovery in order to flash the CM firmware from the SD card (either internal or external) into the tab.

cm-10.2-20131104-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip is the firmware flash file of CM 10.2.

cm-11-20150428-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip is the firmware flash file of CM 11. If there is a newer version than this, you can use the newer version instead of this one.

CyanogenMod Android does not come with Google Play Store and Google Play Service, that's why you need pa-gapps-modular-pico-4.4.4-20150308-signed.zip to flash the Google Play Store and Google Play Service into your tab. Once you have the Google Play Store (previously known as Market) in your tab, you can use it to install more Google apps and Android apps into it.

After you have done backup of all the data you want to save from the tab to your PC, removed the SD card from the tab, charged the tab to at least 90% battery level, and installed the Samsung USB driver, you are ready to start this upgrade process.

Step 1: Unzip GB-Stock-Safe-v5.zip in your PC.

Step 2: Power off your tab. Then hold down its Volumn Down button, at the same time, long press the Power button. Your tab will go into Download mode with screen looks like below:

Step 3: Execute Odin3 v1.7.exe inside the Odin3_v1.7 folder.

Step 4: Connect your tab to your computer using its USB cable. You should see the first box in Odin's ID:COM section turns yellow.

Step 5: Click the PIT button and select the file gt-p1000_mr.pit.

Step 6: Click the PDA button and select the file GB_Stock_Safe_v5.tar.

Step 7: Click the PHONE button. If your tab is GSM-based (Asia/Europe/Middle East/Oceania/Africa/Rest of the world...), select modem.bin inside the folder JPZ Modem. If you are an American T-Mobile user, select modem.bin inside the folder T-Mobile Modem. If you are AT&T (USA), TelCel (Mexico) or Telstra (Australia) user, select modem.bin inside JK3 Modem instead.

Step 8: Click the Start button. The flashing process will begin. Let it run until you see a green PASS! box. Do not power off your PC or your tab, or disconnect the USB cable before you see the green PASS!.

In any event you bricked your tab, you can come here and perform Step 2 to Step 8 above to bring your tab to live again.

Step 9: Your tab should reboot. If not, reboot it. The Android initial setup screen will appear, don't bother to fill in any information, just tap on Next or Skip until you reach the home screen.

Step 10: Turn off your tab. Disconnect its USB cable from PC, and put it into Download mode again (Volumn Down + Power).

Step 11: Unzip Samsung_GT-P1000_CyanogenMod_install_all_in_one.zip in your PC.

Step 12: Now you can execute the newer Odin3 v1.85.exe inside the Samsung Odin3 v1.85 folder.

Step 13: Connect your tab to your computer using its USB cable.

Step 14: Click the PDA button and select the file CF-Root-TAB7_XX_OXA_JQ1-v3.3-CWM3RFS.tar inside ClockworkMod Recovery folder.

Step 15: Click the Start button to flash ClockworkMod Recovery into your tab.

Step 16: Power off your tab. Now you can plug back the external SD card to the tab if you want.

Step 17: Reboot your tab until you get back the Android home screen.

Step 18: Set your tab USB connection to Mass Storage Mode.

Step 19: Transfer the file cm-9.1.0-p1.zip inside CyanogenMod v9.1 for Galaxy Tab GT-P1000 folder to the tab's SD card (internal/external).

Step 20: Turn off your tab. Go into Recovery mode by holding Volumn Up button and at the same time long press the Power button.

Step 21: From the Recovery menu, select Install ZIP then Choose ZIP from SD Card. Locate and select the cm-9.1.0-p1.zip file, then confirm the selection. CM 9.1 will be flashed into your tab and replace the stock firmware. Wait for the process to finish. If there is any error, repeat this step again to reflash CM 9.1.

Step 22: Reboot your tab. The Android initial setup screen will appear, don't bother to fill in any information, just tap on Next or Skip until you reach the home screen.

Step 23: Repeat Step 18 until Step 21 for CM 10.2. The file to flash this round is cm-10.2-20131104-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip. Note that updating from CM 9.1 to CM 10.2 might not be so smooth and might need to repeat Step 21 a few times before a final success.

Step 24: Reboot your tab. The Android initial setup screen will appear. This time, you can fill in your information, and connect to your local WiFi, until you reach the home screen.

Step 25: Repeat Step 18 until Step 21 again for CM 11. The file to flash this round is cm-11-20150428-UNOFFICIAL-p1.zip.

Step 26: Finally, flash the minimal Google apps. Repeat Step 18 until Step 21 again. The file to flash this round is pa-gapps-modular-pico-4.4.4-20150308-signed.zip.

Step 27: Reboot your tab. You will find the Google Play Store appears in your home screen.

Step 28: The keyboard that comes with CyanogenMod might be too basic and primitive. I replaced it with iFlytek Voice Input for Pad which you can install from Google Play Store.

Now, you can enjoy your GT-P1000 tab with new generation of Android and the CyanogenMod experience.

Updated the BIOS of my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro to Version 76CN43WW

It was just shortly about a month Lenovo last released the BIOS security update Version 76CN42WW for the Yoga 2 Pro ultrabook laptop, now there is another new BIOS update Version 76CN43WW.

Lenovo informed that this BIOS for Yoga 2 Pro Version 76CN43WW release on 29 April 2015 will increase the stability of DRAM.

You can click here to go to the download page of the latest BIOS update utility for Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro.

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

The new BIOS will be flashed with the InsydeFlash utility from Windows 8.1. After that, the system will reboot itself, and the BIOS update will be performed.
After the BIOS update completed, the laptop will reboot itself again and back to the Windows login screen.

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

Change Google Now cards temperature display from Fahrenheit to Celsius

If you have an Android smartphone with Google Now, and you would like to change the temperature display in your Google Now cards showing weather information of your favourite place from Fahrenheit to Celsius, or vice versa, I'll show you how I did it in my HTC One M8 running on Android Lollipop version 5.0.1.

Firstly, locate the 3 little dots on the top right corner of the weather card. Tap on it.

You will be asked 3 questions. The first question is whether you are interested in weather updates for the location, answer Yes, then swipe left to answer the second question.

The second question "what temperature units do you prefer?" is exactly the place for you to tell Google Now to display the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Make your choice and then swipe left again for the third question.

Answer Yes to "continue to get weather updates". Then tap on the "X" on the right hand side of the question to return to Google Now cards screen.

Once you have answered these questions, you can find them in Google Now customize setting. To locate it, tap on the three bars on the left of Google to open the Google Now menu.

Then, tap on Customize.

Lastly, tap on "Everything Else".

You will be able to change your preference on temperature units here too.

Vote your survey choice for the 4 EPF proposals

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF, a.k.a. Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja, KWSP) has put up an online survey in their website at http://www.kwsp.gov.my for its members to vote for their preference to the 4 proposals they've put up.

The online survey starts from 21 April 2015 until 5 May 2015. You need to login to their i-Akaun system in order to participate in this important survey.

The 4 EPF proposals are as follow:

Proposal 1:  To raise the age for full withdrawal from current 55 to 60.

• Option 1: To increase the minimum age for full withdrawal gradually from 55 to 60 in stages, over a 15-year period starting 2016 until 2031. The minimum age for full withdrawal to increase by 1 for every 3 years.
• Option 2: To continue to allow for full withdrawal at the age of 55, but if you are still working and still contributing to EPF after 55, all subsequent contributions are locked in the fund until the age of retirement of 60.

What is the impact?

For option 1, your EPF money will be locked down and cannot be fully withdrawn for a longer period of time. If EPF performs badly and pays lousy dividend, you have no choice but to just accept it. Currently, you are able to make a full withdrawal of EPF at the age of 55, and you have your own choice to get a better fund manager to manage your fund, or to self manage your fund with your own investment.

For option 2, your EPF money can be set free at 55, and then zerorized and reaccumulates from 55 to 60.

Proposal 2: To collect EPF contributions from both employee and employer at the minimum amount based on the declared minimum wage. The minimum wage is currently RM900 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 for East Malaysia.

What is the impact?

If you are having a basic salary below the minimum wage, but total monthly income above the minimum wage after commission, your monthly EPF contributions will increase.

This means your monthly disposable income will decrease, but your total actual income will increase as your boss need to contribute more into your EPF account.

This proposal will not affect you if your basic salary is already above the level of minimum wage.

Proposal 3: To continue to pay dividend to your EPF account until the age of 100, if you don't make a full withdrawal after your age of retirement.

What is the impact?

Currently, EPF will continue to pay dividend to your EPF account until the age of 75 if your account is still active after the age of retirement.

This will be good for you if you trust EPF with your retirement fund until you die.

This will be bad for all other EPF members, as your dividend will be diluted by old folks with active EPF account.

Proposal 4: To introduce option for fully Syariah-compliant fund in addition to the existing EPF retirement scheme.

What is the impact?

The performance of the existing scheme and the new Syariah-compliant scheme might not be the same, and the effort of EPF fund managers on the 2 schemes might not be equal.

Are the members allowed to switch from one scheme to another from time to time?

If you are an EPF member, it is important to vote for your choice in this online survey, as the final decision made and enforced will have long term impact on you, your family, your children, and all subsequent generations.

Comparison table for Samsung UHD, Smart, LED and Plasma TVs

Samsung produces quite a lot of flat panel TV models, which can be categorized as the 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, and 9000 series.

Normally, the higher the number, the more features, the better in visual and audio quality, and the higher in price too.

It is still quite difficult to compare among them, without putting them together in a same table for side-by-side comparison.

Well, I found the table below (click it to enlarge) in a booklet published by Samsung called 2014 TV Collection. Perhaps the 2015 edition will be available later in the year.

This table does not provide the full set of feature comparison, but better than none.

For normal consumer, we would probably look into whether the TV model has the following or not:

• 3D movie support
• Resolution (HD = 1280x720, full HD 1080p = 1920x1080, 4k UHD = 3840x2160)
• Screen panel (normal or Ultra Clear)
• Number of built-in HDMI ports
• Number of USB ports
• Built-in wireless LAN support
• Multi-link screen (screen can split into 2: one side is the TV, another side is web browsing or app. Some models can split into 4.)
• Sound output (standard = 2x10W, enhanced = 2x10W + woofer)
• Dynamic dimming technology
• Flat panel or curved panel
• Instant on (need very short time to turn on)
• Soccer mode
• Voice control
• Built-in camera and motion control
• Smart Evolution / future ready (can be upgraded by attaching an Evolution Kit)

I think the 7000 series is a good balance between features and price.

How to check if a merchant in Malaysia is eligible to collect GST from you

A merchant in Malaysia can only collect the goods and services tax (GST) from its customers after it has registered with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department as GST taxpayer and obtained a unique GST ID.

The merchant need to print out its company name, company full address, and GST ID on its tax invoice with serial number to its customers. The tax invoice could be a full tax invoice with customer's name and address, or a simplified tax invoice without the customer's name and address (i.e. cash sales).

If the merchant did not registered with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department as GST taxpayer, or does not issue tax invoice (either full or simplified) in valid format to its customers, it is not eligible to collect GST from the customers.

We can check for the registration detail of a GST ID in the website https://gst.customs.gov.my/TAP/_/ to ensure that the GST ID is valid and the registered merchant name belongs to the right supplier which we purchased the goods/services from.

You need to click on the "Lookup GST Status" link after you reached the screen as below:

Beside checking using GST ID, we can also check for the GST registration detail by using the merchant's business registration number or company name.

You need to click on one of the 3 radio buttons to select checking by which criteria.

Then, key in the search item and hit Enter. The result will be shown below.

I found that there are a lot of rooms of improvement for this online GST registration checking system, including:

• This website is not mobile friendly. It lacks a mobile user interface when accessed by handphone or tablet.
• We cannot access to the lookup screen directly, and must go through the main page and click the "Lookup GST Status" link. The system should have a direct link to reduce one step of using it.
• Suggest to have a mobile app beside this website. The mobile app should have OCR function for us to scan for the GST ID / company name / company registration number from the tax invoice using the phone's camera, so that we don't need to manually key-in the information to perform the search.

Check for Malaysia goods/services price reasonability with MyKira GST app

Just before Malaysia implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 April 2015, the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism Malaysia (a.k.a. Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi Dan Kepenggunaan, KPDNKK) has released an Android app called MyKira GST which enable us to check for the price reasonability of over 10,000 products and services in Malaysia.

The price is checked from the online database of KPDNKK and based on the location (parliament area) of selling.

To do the checking, you need to provide the name of the product/service, which has autocomplete search while key-in.

Then, specify the weight/size/packaging information, which is also having autocomplete search during key-in.

After that, key-in the price you see, and optionally its price before GST (old price) if you remember.

Then provide the information of the shop (premise) and area (parliament). There is a map showing your current location, which can help you in identifying the area you are in.

After that, tap on the submit button to do the checking. It will show you whether the price is within reasonable range, or too expensive (out of range) accordingly.

If the price is found to be out of range, you can tap on the e-Aduan button and immediately file a complaint to KPDNKK.

You can click here to download and install the MyKira GST app from Google Play Store to your Android phone or tablet.

DIY write your own will in Malaysia for free with template download

Have you written your will? If not, are you deterred by the charges of will writing and maintenance services?

Well, the good news is, under the Malaysian Wills Act 1959, you are empowered to write your own will which is recognised as legal document, even without the need of a lawyer or professional will service provider.

So, if you believe that your will is quite unlikely to be challenged, and is very simple and straightforward, you can try DIY your own will. Otherwise, you should think about getting the professional to help you in will writing to avoid any unexpected trouble after you die.

Why you should write a will, be it DIY or drafted by professional will writer? With a valid will, when you pass away someday, you are said to die testate and your will and testament will be executed accordingly. You will be able to inform about:

• Who should execute your will? (the executor)
• Who shall inherit your wealth (a.k.a. estate) and what portion they will get? (the beneficiaries)
• Who you entrust to distribute your asset? (the trustee) Before the actual distribution to beneficiaries, your asset might need to temporary parked under this name to facilitate the distribution process.
• If both your spouse and yourself die together, who will take care of your minor children? (the guardian)
• Do you want to donate certain portion to charity, NGO, etc.? (the special bequests)
• How you want your funeral to be? (burial, cremation, ...) Done under ceremony of what religion? (the additional request)
• Any last words you want to speak to your family members?

After you die testate, your executor will need to perform the following duties:

• Locate your Will
• Make funeral arrangement
• Apply for a Grant of Probate (GP)
• Call in assets
• Pay remaining debts
• Prepare Statement of Accounts
• Distribute assets according to your Will
• Carry out your wishes mentioned in your Will

 

If you die intestate without a valid will, your family members will need to:

• Appoint an administrator to administer your asset according to the Malaysian Probate and Administration Act 1959.
• Obtain a Letter of Administration (LA).
• Identify, locate, assess and value your estate.
• If your estate exceeds RM50,000, need to find 2 sureties or guarantors to sign an administration bond.
• Your estate will be distributed according to the Malaysian Distribution Act 1958.

The possible problems due to die intestate could be (and not limited to):

• Taking longer time to process.
• The LA is generally more expensive than the GP.
• Might need legal services, accountants, tax consultants and other professionals arises, which could end up more costly.
• One asset being distributed out to too many beneficiaries, which might cause problem for them to sell the asset later, as all signatures are needed when disposing the asset.
• The guardian of your minor children is not appointed when they become orphan.
• Your funeral might not be carried out in your preferred manner.

What do you need to write a will?

• Yourself as the testator, who is above 18 years old, be of sound minded. If your will is written when you are sick, you might want to get your doctor to sign and certify that you are of sound minded the moment when you write your will.
• At least 2 witnesses, who are above 18 years old. The witnesses cannot be any one from your beneficiaries.
• Have your will hand-written or computer printed on paper, and the testator and all witnesses to sign on it.

When you die, all your loans and debts need to be settled first, before the remaining to be distributed to your beneficiaries.

If your loans and debts are unable to be settled by your assets, then your estate is insolvent, and there is nothing left to distribute to your beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries will get nothing from you, but they also need not taking care of your remaining debt.

If you are able to clear off all your financial obligations and have a solvent estate, then your beneficiaries will inherit your estate accordingly.

Now you are pretty clear about the requirement and knowledge of writing your own will. You can download this template courtesy of Struan Inc. Sdn Bhd, fill in the necessary, and get it fully signed by all of your witnesses and yourself.

Note that under the Malaysian Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1971, your surviving spouse and/or children might be able to challenge your will if they are not agreeable with it, regardless they are stated as beneficiaries or not. If you wish to make your will unchallengeable, you should better engage the service of professional will writer to assist in your will writing.

Note: The above only applies to non-Muslim in Malaysia. There are separate laws and treatment for Muslim will writing.

BIOS security update for Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and Yoga 3 Pro laptops

On 27 March 2015, Lenovo has released the latest BIOS update (version 76CN42WW) for Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro ultrabook laptop.

On the same day, Lenovo has also released the latest BIOS update (version A6CN49WW) for Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro ultrabook laptop.

This latest version BIOS for Yoga 2 Pro and Yoga 3 Pro respectively fixed all merged issues from previous, and also fixed the security issues in the Intel UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) module.

You can click here to go to the download page of the latest BIOS update utility for Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, and click here to go to the download page of the latest BIOS update utility for Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro.

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

The new BIOS will be flashed with the InsydeFlash utility from Windows 8.1. After that, the system will reboot itself, and the BIOS update will be performed.
After the BIOS update completed, the laptop will reboot itself again and back to the Windows login screen.

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

Using SQLite Expert to develop and administer SQLite3 databases

SQLite is today's de facto database for mobile development, particularly as the local database used in Android and iOS apps. It is also widely used to handle data storage in embedded system.

In fact, SQLite is also a good choice for lightweight database to handle data storage and query for Windows / Linux / Mac applications. It is released in the public domain and free for use (compared with other non-free alternative such as MS Access database). It is serverless and doesn't need installation nor configuration of database system (compared with alternative such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.)

Now come to the big question: how to create, develop and maintain the SQLite databases?

There are quite a number of tools available, some are free and some are non-free. I have chosen SQLite Expert for use in Windows development environment.

SQLite Expert comes in 2 editions: the free Personal Edition (free for both personal and commercial use), and the non-free Professional Edition with additional features. You can click here to find out the feature differences between the 2 SQLite Expert editions. The Personal Edition should be good enough for most SQLite application developers.

SQLite Expert is able to handle Unicode data, Views and Virtual Tables.

SQLite Expert has a nice and easy to use GUI. It even comes with Hex Editor (to edit fields with binary data) and Image Editor (to edit fields with image data).

It has a powerful visual editor for database table creation, restructuring and maintenance, which able to handle columns, indexes, foreign keys, triggers, unique and check constraints.

It also has a handy Data Definition Language (DDL) viewer to show the DDL of tables.

For the Professional Edition, you will also get a Visual SQL Query Builder, able to import and export data, Lua / Pascal scripting support, etc.

If you are in search for a good database tool for SQLite3, I strongly recommend this one to you.

Opened a CIMB AirAsia Savers Account

I am switching over my traditional CIMB savings account to a new CIMB AirAsia Savers Account for better interest rate and additional benefits that come with this online savings account.

CIMB AirAsia Savers Account is an online savings account in partnership with AirAsia. It is paperless, and you won't get any passbook nor paper monthly statement. Transaction details and online statements are available in the CIMB Clicks website.

 So, what's the big deal about this CIMB AirAsia Savers Account?

• It offers an interest rate from 0.15% up to 1.00%. No big deal as some other banks are giving higher rate than this, but this rate is also higher than the traditional CIMB savings account or CIMB basic savings account.
• If you maintain an average monthly balance of above RM5,000, and there is no over-the-counter transaction in that month, you will get a monthly RM5 cash rebate. Consider you are keeping RM5,000 in the account, that will translate into 5/5000 x 12 = 1.2% additional interest rate.
• If you maintain an average quarterly balance of above RM3,000, you will get automatic entries into a Quarterly Contest to win holiday packages, complimentary flights, E-Gift Vouchers and other prizes. Every average quarterly balance of RM3,000 entitles you to one automatic entry.
• If you maintain an average quarterly balance of above RM1,500, you will earn 250 AirAsia BIG Points quarterly. In my experience, the AirAsia BIG Points are very difficult to collect through buying air tickets from AirAsia, this seems to be a faster way to collect more points easily.
• If you maintain an average monthly balance of above RM3,000, you will get E-Gift Voucher on your birthday month.
• You will have priority booking benefit to grab the best deals during AirAsia sales one day before the general public.

If you already have a CIMB savings or current account, and you already have access to CIMB Clicks online banking facility, you don't even need to visit to CIMB branch in order to open a new CIMB AirAsia Savers Account, as you can do it inside CIMB Clicks. That's how I did it, and my new CIMB AirAsia Savers Account was opened instantly after I clicked the Confirm button.

To open a new CIMB AirAsia Savers Account from CIMB Clicks, just drop down the Apply For menu and select Savings Account. Then, select "CIMB Bank AirAsia Savers Account" under Product Type.

You will need to transfer some money from your existing CIMB account to this new account, select the CIMB branch to maintain this new account, and provide your contact details. Within a few clicks, your new account is ready.

 

In order to collect AirAsia BIG Points and enjoy the various benefits from AirAsia, you need to link your CIMB AirAsia Savers Account with your AirAsia BIG Shot ID.

 

If you are not yet a member of AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, you can click here to register a new AirAsia BIG membership for free.

 

 

 

To link your CIMB AirAsia Savers Account with your AirAsia BIG Shot ID, click here.

If you need to lookup your AirAsia BIG Shot ID number, you can click here.

Click here to get more detail about CIMB AirAsia Savers Account from CIMB website.