Kent, if you happened to stumble upon this on your weekend trip to Virginia :-
or this :-
or even THIS! :-
Please give them a much appreciated LOUD honk! hehehe
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
This is where I am staying right now in Cary
If you guys just wonder where I am staying right now. You may want to take a look at the street view from Google Maps. Feel free to scroll around. - Courtyard Marriott
View Larger Map
View Larger Map
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
‘Blackouts’ for users of pirated Windows
PETALING JAYA: Starting Wednesday, users with pirated copies of Microsoft Corp's Windows XP Professional operating system (OS) on machines that are Internet-capable could find their computer displays going black and with no screen icons visible.
There are 8.6 million users of Win XP Pro in Malaysia and about three million are expected to suffer the “blackouts,” according to Microsoft Malaysia.
To continue working, the user would need to reset the machine’s desktop background. Everything will return to normal. But when 60 minutes are up, the black screen will reappear and the user must go through the whole process again.
This will keep happening until the user licenses the copy of Win XP Pro on the machine by going to a Microsoft reseller or getting a licence online at the www.microsoft.com/malaysia/genuine. Each licence costs RM580.
This initiative is part of Microsoft’s antipiracy campaign, dubbed Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), aimed at educating users on the benefits of using genuine software, K.T. Ng, Microsoft Malaysia’s director of client business group, told The Star on Tuesday.
Win XP Professional was chosen for the antipiracy blitz because it is the most pirated version of Microsoft’s Win XP operating system. The other version is Windows XP Home, which is for home users.
This is the second time that Microsoft is needling users of pirated copies of its operating system to go legitimate. Two years ago, it sprang its WGA initiative on local users of Win XP Pro and Win XP Home.
That time, a pop-up message showed up whenever the PC with a pirated Windows OS was switched on, with the intention of shaming business and home users into getting legitimate copies. The message said “This copy of Windows is not genuine.”
It was quite successful. At that time, there were about 5.1 million pirated copies of Windows XP Pro and after the exercise, about two million of the copies were validated, said Microsoft Malaysia.
“We are encouraged by that response,” said Ng. "So this time, we have escalated the penalty to a black screen that reappears every hour until the user validates his or her copy of Win XP Pro.”
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive officer of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), lauded the WGA campaign.
MDeC is caretaker of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative, which is working to build up the nation’s knowledge economy.
“MDeC respects the rights of companies to protect their intellectual property. It’s a reminder that software piracy doesn’t pay, especially when Malaysians are themselves putting a lot of effort into creating original software,” he said.
Not clearSeveral users and industry pundits that The Star spoke to believe Microsoft is using its WGA campaign to herd business users into upgrading to its newest operating system, Windows Vista, which hasn’t garnered interest among companies because of its higher hardware requirements.
“Microsoft has stopped selling Win XP in the market, so you have to wonder why it is spending time and money to take down users of pirated copies of this OS,” said a PC user, who asked for anonymity. “Why isn’t it also targeting users who have pirated copies of Windows Vista?”
“So if I’m using a pirated copy of Vista at this time, I won’t be hassled? Got to wonder about that.”
Ng replied that the concern now is XP Pro, which is widely pirated. “Vista isn’t pirated as much. WGA is continuous and should there be a Vista piracy problem, we will address it down the road,” he said.
Source :- The Star
There are 8.6 million users of Win XP Pro in Malaysia and about three million are expected to suffer the “blackouts,” according to Microsoft Malaysia.
To continue working, the user would need to reset the machine’s desktop background. Everything will return to normal. But when 60 minutes are up, the black screen will reappear and the user must go through the whole process again.
This will keep happening until the user licenses the copy of Win XP Pro on the machine by going to a Microsoft reseller or getting a licence online at the www.microsoft.com/malaysia/genuine. Each licence costs RM580.
This initiative is part of Microsoft’s antipiracy campaign, dubbed Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), aimed at educating users on the benefits of using genuine software, K.T. Ng, Microsoft Malaysia’s director of client business group, told The Star on Tuesday.
Win XP Professional was chosen for the antipiracy blitz because it is the most pirated version of Microsoft’s Win XP operating system. The other version is Windows XP Home, which is for home users.
This is the second time that Microsoft is needling users of pirated copies of its operating system to go legitimate. Two years ago, it sprang its WGA initiative on local users of Win XP Pro and Win XP Home.
That time, a pop-up message showed up whenever the PC with a pirated Windows OS was switched on, with the intention of shaming business and home users into getting legitimate copies. The message said “This copy of Windows is not genuine.”
It was quite successful. At that time, there were about 5.1 million pirated copies of Windows XP Pro and after the exercise, about two million of the copies were validated, said Microsoft Malaysia.
“We are encouraged by that response,” said Ng. "So this time, we have escalated the penalty to a black screen that reappears every hour until the user validates his or her copy of Win XP Pro.”
Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, chief executive officer of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), lauded the WGA campaign.
MDeC is caretaker of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative, which is working to build up the nation’s knowledge economy.
“MDeC respects the rights of companies to protect their intellectual property. It’s a reminder that software piracy doesn’t pay, especially when Malaysians are themselves putting a lot of effort into creating original software,” he said.
Not clearSeveral users and industry pundits that The Star spoke to believe Microsoft is using its WGA campaign to herd business users into upgrading to its newest operating system, Windows Vista, which hasn’t garnered interest among companies because of its higher hardware requirements.
“Microsoft has stopped selling Win XP in the market, so you have to wonder why it is spending time and money to take down users of pirated copies of this OS,” said a PC user, who asked for anonymity. “Why isn’t it also targeting users who have pirated copies of Windows Vista?”
“So if I’m using a pirated copy of Vista at this time, I won’t be hassled? Got to wonder about that.”
Ng replied that the concern now is XP Pro, which is widely pirated. “Vista isn’t pirated as much. WGA is continuous and should there be a Vista piracy problem, we will address it down the road,” he said.
Source :- The Star
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Energy Drink - NOS your body!
In our country, when ever you think about energy drink is Gatorade or maybe our local version "100 Plus". But in the states, they have something that sounds a lot like a car booster. Which will cost you around $3 for 2. Beware of the powerful horse power!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Malaysian fuel prices to be slashed tomorrow!
The Prime Minister has announced that the prices for RON97, RON92 and diesel fuel will receive small reductions of between 8 to 20 sen as of tomorrow.
Source :- paultan.org
With the new price structure, RON92 is now cheaper than diesel fuel. You may want to pump that if your car allows it. It was previously 4 sen more expensive than diesel fuel.
With diesel so expensive now, when is Malaysian diesel going to be upgraded to modern standards instead of the current MS123 standard?
The following are the new prices:
| Fuel | Old Price | Reduction | New Price |
| RON97 | RM2.70 | RM0.15 | RM2.55 |
| RON92 | RM2.62 | RM0.20 | RM2.40 |
| Diesel | RM2.58 | RM0.08 | RM2.50 |
| V-Power | RM3.15 | ? | ? |
Source :- paultan.org
PSP-3000!
(Top :- PSP-2000; Bottom :- PSP-3000)This is the soon to be launched PSP-3000. It has a overall rounder design, minor cosmetic & hardware changes (built in microphone, enhanced screen & enhanced video out). As you can see, the screen on the PSP-3000 is much more richer in color, vibrant and crisp. According to a report by Engadget Japan, the color gamut is twice as wide, contrast ratio is improved 5 times and the response time has doubled, which is just awesome!
(Top :- PSP-2000; Bottom :- PSP-3000)The metallic ring surface on the UMD drive has shrink as well. This is actually due to reduce the amount of scratch you're getting from the scratch prone UMD ring. From what I could notice, this PSP-3000 is sleek & near to perfection, which I might consider to upgrade from my current PSP-1000. Let's wait and see for now :)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
It all seem so perfect but it's fake
Everyone who's watching the Beijing Olympic 2008 would have thought, oh how cute is this little girl with such a sweet voice. But the truth is, her voice isn't that sweet after all. Lin Miaoke lip-synched at the opening ceremony over the voice of Yang Peiyi, who was considered visually unsuitable to appear herself because of her buck teeth, so only her voice was used. This is what the Chinese representative said:
"The main consideration was the national interest. The child on the screen should be flawless in image, in her internal feelings, and in her expression. In the matter of her voice, Yang Peiyi was flawless, in the unanimous opinion of all the members of the team. We have a responsibility to face the audience of the whole country, and to be open with this explanation. We should all understand it like this, it is a question of the national interest. It is a question of the image of our national music, our national culture. Especially at the entrance of our national flag, this is an extremely important, an extremely serious matter. So we made the choice. I think it is fair to both Lin Miaoke and Yang Peiyi, after all, we have a perfect voice, a perfect image and a perfect show, in our team’s view, all together."
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Priceless!
Checklist for Olympic's Opening Ceremony
Flashy, Pulsating Lights - Check!
Massive, Jaw-dropping Fireworks - Check!
Sea of humans hooked up with bright, glowing LEDs - Check!
...........
....................
Flashy, Pulsating Lights - Check!
Massive, Jaw-dropping Fireworks - Check!
Sea of humans hooked up with bright, glowing LEDs - Check!
...........
....................
...............................
BSOD projected on Nest's Steel Twigs - PRICELESS!
BWAHAHAHAHA!
BSOD projected on Nest's Steel Twigs - PRICELESS!
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Essential Items for long haul flights
I will be traveling across the world in a couple of weeks, so I have been surfing around the net for tips will traveling long haul flights.
Here is the list of essential items to bring along
Here is the list of essential items to bring along
Things You'll Need
- Sweater, sweatshirt or other warm layer
- Eyedrops
- Lip balm
- Book
- Sudoku
- Nintendo DS
- Toothbrush
- Eye shades
- Inflatable Neck Pillow
- WetOnes
- A clean pair of underwear, a clean pair of socks, and a clean shirt
- Mini travel towel
- Listerine Pocket Pack
- Gum
- Ipod
- Snacks
- Bandana
- Body Lotion-the air in the cabin can/will dry out your skin
- Hair bursh/ties
Let's have some brain teaser
Beautiful scene. But there is something more to it....Who knows the answer?
Let's try this as well. Are they merely just flowers?(Winner to the correct answers, get to win something, hurry! hurry!)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Welcome back, HAZE...
531 hotspots in Sumatra, 40ha burning in Dengkil The STAR: Sunday August 3, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: It's that time of the year again. It's the dry spell, the haze is coming back and the number of hotspots in Sumatra has jumped from 351 to 531 within 24 hours.
To make things worse, a 40ha peat forest has been burning for the last two days. And the weather is expected to stay dry for the next three days.
The Malaysia Meteorological Department said satellite images showed 531 hotspots over Sumatra as at 2.30pm yesterday.
According to the Department of Environment, the intensity of the haze would depend on the wind strength.
For now, Port Klang is the only area with an unhealthy API reading of 104 (a reading of 101 to 200 is considered unhealthy). Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur recorded moderate readings of 57 and 61 respectively.
Haze has been a perennial problem for Malaysia because of slash-and-burn activities practised by farmers in Indonesia.
The fire in Putrajaya could make things worse this year. Over 40ha of agriculture land at the 24th kilometre of the Elite Highway near the KL International Airport has been on fire for the last two days.
Sepang Kuala Langat fire chief Supt Sharikan Bustaman said the fire was burning beneath and above ground and the dry season had made matters worse.
About 70 firemen from nearby stations are fighting to put out the fire at the area, which is part of the Kuala Langat Forest Reserve.
To make things worse, a 40ha peat forest has been burning for the last two days. And the weather is expected to stay dry for the next three days.
The Malaysia Meteorological Department said satellite images showed 531 hotspots over Sumatra as at 2.30pm yesterday.
According to the Department of Environment, the intensity of the haze would depend on the wind strength.
For now, Port Klang is the only area with an unhealthy API reading of 104 (a reading of 101 to 200 is considered unhealthy). Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur recorded moderate readings of 57 and 61 respectively.
Haze has been a perennial problem for Malaysia because of slash-and-burn activities practised by farmers in Indonesia.
The fire in Putrajaya could make things worse this year. Over 40ha of agriculture land at the 24th kilometre of the Elite Highway near the KL International Airport has been on fire for the last two days.
Sepang Kuala Langat fire chief Supt Sharikan Bustaman said the fire was burning beneath and above ground and the dry season had made matters worse.
About 70 firemen from nearby stations are fighting to put out the fire at the area, which is part of the Kuala Langat Forest Reserve.
Friday, August 1, 2008
GAHHH!
Today mark the first day of my hellish on-call standby month. The DC is undergoing expansion and seriously, I hope those TPC engineers will do their work according to the plan in a proper way. Just don't trip the rack's PDUs/drill where you don't have to drill/bang some production rack with your sledgehammer. Worst case scenario, I’ll just have to "buy chicken pray god". Lady luck, keep on smiling upon me, aight ? :)
Digress!
Obligatory Office Equipment (OOE)
"Keep On Smiling"
Another sensational idea for office equipment!
- Workload getting to you ?
- Feeling stressed ?
- Too many initiatives "cascading" down?
Here is the new low cost way to cope!
Take 2 paperclips and elastic bands
Assemble them as shown on the picture.
Apply the construction as visualized
Enjoy your day.
This obligatory office equipment will help you to reach the end of the day with a smile on your face!
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