Garmin Nuvi 2565LM, my 2nd GPS navigator

My Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS navigator which I bought in 2009 is still working fine, but for some reason my family needs a 2nd GPS navigator, so I have purchased a new Garmin Nuvi 2565LM.

It is a genuine AECO unit that comes with 2 years warranty and with AECO and MCMC stickers, sold at RM650 with some free gifts (screen protector, carry case, home charger, etc.). This price is even cheaper than the price I bought my Garmin Nuvi 255W about 4 years ago!

Some of the differences/enhancements of Garmin Nuvi 2565LM from Nuvi 255W includes:

• A larger 5" screen (255W has a 4.3" screen)
• Supports microSD card (255W supports normal size SD card for additional storage)
• Faster and stronger GPS satellite signal detection. It is able to get some GPS signal even indoor near the window.
• Better and faster search function. It no longer need to specify the location for the search target as in 255W.
• Automatic speech recognition (ASR) to issue voice command without the need to touch the GPS.
• Bluetooth integration with Android smartphone, which is able to make or receive hands-free call as well as displaying the phone's address book on its screen. When getting a call, it is able to display the caller's name or phone number. If a Point of Interest (POI) contains telephone information, it is able to make call using the Android phone as well.
• Customizable Main Menu. I think the default layout is pretty good, so I haven't tried this.
• Remember last parking spot (when it is removed from its mount).
• "Go Office" beside "Go Home".
• MyTrends predictive routing.
• Route preview among faster time, shorter distance and cost saving.
• Custom avoidances by area or by road.
• Trip Planner.
• ecoRoute, which I haven't tried yet.
• Built in compass.
• Calculator.
• Unit converter.
• User definable display on bottom left-hand-side of the map. Can display either one of travel direction, elevation, time of day, vehicle speed, time to arrival, distance to arrival, etc.
• Integrated driving recorder, which I haven't tried this. It needs an additional GDR camera to function.
• Rear camera video support.
• Preloaded with 3 maps - City Navigator, MalFreeMaps NT and MalSingMaps NT. Also preloaded with Custom POIs including AES spots.

One thing I dislike about this Garmin Nuvi 2565LM is that, its speaker volume is softer and screen display is dimmer when using battery compared to when it is plugged to the car charger. This could be a "feature" to save the battery juice, but the variance should not be too big. I find it to be either too soft when using battery at 70% volume, or too loud when using charger at 90% volume.

Buying 3-ply surgical face mask online, and the correct way to wear it

Just to share that, in case you are looking for 3-ply surgical face mask and unable to get it from store/pharmacy around your area, or the price has already jacked up, you can actually buy from the Internet, which will deliver to you at your doorstep within 1-2 day, and the price is reasonably cheap.

For example, if you look around in Lelong website, you can find seller selling 5 boxes of the 3-ply surgical face mask (50 pieces per box) at the price of RM33 only, which is equivalent to RM33/250 = 13.20 sen per piece.

If you are looking for lower volume like 1 box (50 pieces), there are sellers selling as low as RM10 per box, which is equivalent to RM10/50 = 20 sen per piece.

As for the correct way of wearing the face mask, the right one should be the coloured side face away from you, while the white side touches your face. There are some rumours spreading around the Internet saying that in certain cases you should wear with the white side in front, which I believe is not true. Whether you are sick and want to prevent virus spreading out, or you are preventing yourself from inhaling harmful substances from outside such as haze/dust/virus, just wear the face mask with the coloured side in front. You can refer to many professional medical websites or government healthcare websites to get the correct info. One of the websites is this: http://www.primed.ca/ClinicalResources/MaskStandardsandFAQ.aspx

All schools in KL, Selangor, Melaka, Muar, Ledang, Segamat, Kuantan, PD, etc. to close on 24/6/2013 due to haze

The haze condition in Malaysia and Singapore, which is caused by forest fires in Indonesia, has worsen today.

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel has just instructed for the  closure of all schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor on Monday 24/6/2013, as advised by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Meanwhile, the Melaka state government earlier instructed all 313 primary and secondary schools plus all pre-schools, including Tadika Perpaduan, Kemas, to be closed on Monday 24/6/2013 due to the haze.

Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob also ordered schools in the Kuantan district and areas badly affected by the haze to close on Monday 24/6/2013.

Johor Education director Mohd Nor A Ghani announced 110 primary and secondary schools in Segamat have been ordered to close on Monday 24/6/2013 following the Air Pollutants Index (AP1) reading having reached the hazardous level of 400.

The closure order for 117 schools in Kluang and 175 schools in Batu Pahat, involving 134,872 students, has not been withdrawn, but the order has been extended to 171 primary and 40 secondary schools in Muar and Ledang following the haze emergency declaration for the two districts (Muar and Ledang) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today.  

In Negri Sembilan, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Haji Mohamad Haji Hasan announced schools in Port Dickson to be closed on Monday 24/6/2013  after the API recorded at 295.

However, 300 schools in Kota Tinggi, Pontian and Pasir Gudang, which were ordered to close because of the haze problem on Friday 21/6/2013, would REOPEN on 24/6/2013 following a drop in the API readings for the three areas.