A friend emailed me this picture which is done by aligning faces of 670 soldiers who died in the Iraq War! Not sure this is true or not, but that’s what the email claims.

Really a masterpiece, a remarkable piece of artwork! How do you think they do it… using Photoshop?

Tagged: president bush, bush

So this monkey in the White House has announced that he will send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq for the slaughter by the mujahideen. It goes without saying that this monkey in the White House has still not learnt his lesson. Perhaps his religion does teach him to send human sacrifices for the slaughter to Iraq, but I don't quite see the point of doing just that.

I wish I have a Death Note with me right now.

Dear Interweb (really Linux on Laptop people),

Do you recommend a Turion 64 X2 or an Intel Core 2 Duo in a laptop?

My main aim is to make it run Fedora with all its bells and whistles (and hope it lasts longer than 2 years; the older IBM can’t do Xen in FC-6).

Are Dell’s a good buy? Are their three years comprehensive warranty worth buying (much like its a necessity for the Apple stuff)? Is the Inspiron or Latitude the more affordable versions of the Dell? Why can’t I see Firewire in their specs? Whatever happened to good ‘ole PCMCIA slots?

Size isn’t really a factor, I’ve become used to lugging 15″ wide screens for a while now, even during travel.

One thing I’ve found funny with the Dell website - I can’t untick MS Windows or even MS Works. I apparently need to have them. Can I return them without hassle?

Equip yourselves with the right answers when you bring Malaysia to the world, and the world to Malaysia, this VMY2007.

This blog has a tutorial for three simpulan bahasa touching on Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu. Foreign tourists may find them intriguing.

Trademark violation, so says Cisco Systems.

I've played Master of Defense game before and it's very addictive. I just kept on playing non-stop! I played Master of Defense few months back and today I found another similar game, a Macromedia Flash based Tower Defense game inspired by Elemental TD for WarcraftIII.

The aim of the game is to kill the creeps before they reach the end of the maze, do this by building attacking towers on the grass around the maze.

To build a tower click on it on the right hand side then click on the map where you want it to be built. Once built you can clock on towers to upgrade or sell them. To get a high score keep as much of your gold in the bank as possible, at the end of each round you earn interest on the gold in the bank.

This game is FREE. You only need to make sure you have Flash player for this game to load in your browser. If you love this game, do leave a comment and I might just put out "Master of Defense" which I finished few months ago!

[ Play Tower Defense ]

Technorati Tags: game, games, flash, tower defense, tower defence, Master of Defense

The world is flat and Thomas Friedman is never more correct.

News travels, and news travels leaving digital trails in the Internet Age. With this, it seems PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in the days to come, will be hounded by media reports -- and probably cyber fallouts -- on how he monitored and remote-controlled the country from abroad when the country was in massive floods in December, coded 'Red Alert'.

After making a brief appearance in Johor before he swiftly flew out of country en route to Perth, the PM has been caught by the media something irrelevant to mitigating the woes of floods befallen his primary customers, the rakyat

January 2, on Page 31 of the Metro section of The Western Australian newspaper, there was this story titled: Eatery out to curry favour globally, bylined PT Singam. Quote:

A Malaysian restaurant has opened in Victoria Park in an ambitious plan to use Perth as a springboard for a global chain of eateries rivalling international food outlets such as McDonald's.

The cafe-style Puteri Nasi Kandar is the brainchild of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who asked Malaysians almost two years ago to look at setting up a global chain of Malaysian curry houses around the world.

"If McDonald's, KFC and Hungry Jack's can go around the world, the PM cannot see why Malaysian food can't do the same," said a co-owner of Puteri, Malaysian tycoon Lim Ewe Jin. "There are curry lovers everywhere."

Mr Abdullah opened the restaurant on Friday night (December 29).

Dr Lim, who heads the Kuala Lumpur-based Lejadi group of companies, has partnered Mr Abdullah's brother, Ibrahim - a food science academic who now heads a group of food industry firms, including one making and supplying curry pastes - to give nasi kandar to the world.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini's Beh Li Yih traced to another story carried by Asia Times Western Australia, a community newspaper in Perth, which tells more of Abdullah's nasi kandar priority over the floods:

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was opening a nasi kandar restaurant in Australia last month, at a time when disastrous floods hit Malaysia’s southern region.

According to a report in the Jan 5 edition of the Perth weekly community free paper, Asia Times, Abdullah was in the city to open the ‘Puteri Nasi Kandar’ restaurant on Dec 29.

The report entitled ‘A meal fit for a princess’was published alongside several photos showing Abdullah opening the restaurant and sampling the food.

A Malaysian reader of the newspaper told malaysiakini: “(At a time when parts of) Johor were under water (resulting in) 17 casualties, I was unable to swallow (the reports and photos).”

The restaurant is substantially owned by Abdullah’s brother, Ibrahim, and a Malaysian corporate figure Lim Ewe Jin, according to the report.

Lim, the founder of Lejadi Group which provides water management and privatisation services, is also co-founder of Powertek Bhd, an independent power producer in Malaysia.

Just how serious was the floods last December?

According to media reports, 17 people died and more than 90,000 were evacuated at the height of the floods triggered by torrential rain, and which engulfed whole towns and villages in five states.

According to Malaysiakini yesterday, Abdullah had made a one-day visit to Johor - the worst-hit state - on December 23 after an official visit to Venezuela. He then reportedly left on the same day for Australia for a one-week holiday.

Amother source told Screenshots that the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Perth had also arranged for the PM to celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Adha (December 31) with Malaysians residing there. The venue? Where else but Puteri Nasi Kandar!

'Anyway, I am back'

Explaining his absence, Abdullah said he had kept in constant contact with his deputy Najib Abdul Razak, who heads the national disaster management and relief committee.

“There was no problem. During the floods, Najib discharged his duties and I monitored the situation from abroad. Anyway, I am back now,” he was quoted as saying in Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau January 9.

His statement was only reported by Chinese dailies.

According to the report, the explanation was provided when he was asked to comment about flood victims who had voiced unhappiness that he had continued his holiday abroad despite the ‘red alert’ at home.

There is no need for further introduction for Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi, or Dewina Group, or Brahim's spices. Nor further introduction for Lim Ewe Jin and Powertek the IPP.

However, you may like to know who else are behind Puteri Nasi Kandar, which is owned and operated by Puteri Holdings Pty Ltd (Registrant ROID: C2836962-AR).

Does Nur Fatin Ibrahim ring a bell? See ASIC company extract here (PDF).

Photos sourced from Marilyn Chin, Asia Times Western Australia, via Malaysiakini. Thanks Screenshots reades RodneyL and G for the alert.

For larger context read yesterday's blog: Floods: YBs on remote control.

And while Abdullah was in Perth, did he read The Australian which carried an interview with Dr Mahathir on December 30? Quote:

Now, he says: "I am concerned they (the Malaysian Government) are following the example of Singapore." The Singapore Government, he says, has recently moved to tighten even further its control of the island nation's press.

Meanwhile, the delay in distributing government cash aid to the flood victims has caused a lot of anxiety and frustration. The disappointment was expressed by Pasir Raja assemblyman cum Johor exco member Halimah Mohd Sadique.

How about some Brahim's-spiced nasi kandar for the flood-distressed puteris in Johor?

I don’t know what got into her, but it’s seems almost like her life long dream to work overseas, especially in Dubai.

She often mentions that how exciting it is if she were to work over there, with a fat salary, a new and foreign environment, and a chance to visit the word’s largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall! And I know first hand that she loves to spend her time shopping!

However she did give up some thought on where she would live if she’s going to work in Dubai. I was concern about that too. So I did some check up on properties in Dubai, to see what kind of apartment or place that I could get her. I prefer to get her something that is nice, located in a safe neighborhood, and easily reachable.

After hours of searching the internet, I finally came across Dubai Marina properties, a website that lets you find real estate properties in Dubai. It is easy to use, and it has a lot of property to choose from.

Personally, I’ve browsed few apartments that suited my budget using the system, and I find it very interesting. I haven’t told her yet about this website and I guess you’re the one who are first to know about Dubai Marina properties.

~sponsored post~

Thanks To Our Sponsor: Get Linux CD/DVD in Malaysia Fast & affordable, delivered right to your doorsteps

Latest news from BBC that I read, It seems OLPC (one-laptop per child) XO laptop will be available to the general public to purchase after 2008.

This was confirmed by the chairman of OLPC group (Nicholas Negroponte) that they have considered commercial schemes to distribute XO Laptops around the world. It isn’t clear yet how much does an OLPC cost to the general public, but they are considering a “buy 2 get 1″ scheme, perhaps as a source of donating or funding the project.

Personally, I’m eager to test one of the machine out myself, I envy ditesh and jayakumar because they had the chance to try out the machine in person. :p

Tags: olpc, linux, laptop, fedora, 0 laptop

Gwen Stefani - Wind It Up - Video

Howard Stern, famous for his uncensored radio shows that are mostly provacating to say the least has pocketed another $83 million for exceeding subscriber growth targets by more than 2 million during his first year on uncensored radio (Sirius).

Combined with his original five-year, $400 million contract and the $220 million in stock Sirius granted him last January, the value of Stern’s total compensation has just topped $700 million.

Full Story

That’s the creepiest news this year..so far.

Rocker Marilyn Manson is romantically involved with 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood, sources close to the situation tell PEOPLE.

The sources say his relationship with the Thirteen actress was a factor in the Dec. 29 divorce filing by Dita Von Teese, 34, Manson’s wife of one year.

via People

I am the kind of people where coffee has no effect on my whatever body system… I can drink a cup of coffee and sleep like a pig in the next 15 minutes.

In fact I found that I slept better after drinking a cup of coffee… weird.

Sometimes I do envy those who shows more response with the coffee caffeine, like when you need a boost to work late at night… like right now… when I need to work on some projects.

Too tired… coffee not working… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My hubby’s brother brought us to this place. Before that, I have heard of several people recommending the place. Well, it is not easy to find it ‘cos I remember going through some small roads before we reach there. So, if you plan to go, do get your map and direction first ‘cos I am not much help in this area.

There are lots of photos, so I shall break down this place to several posts. Firstly, I will show you this shellfish which the stall owner said is the scallop. He showed me the other type which is the normal ones that I see and eat often which he said is the mirror scallop. Meanwhile, I forget the name of this huge one.

It is for sure not scallop as the shape of the shell is triangular and not the fan shape. Moreover, it is too cheap ‘cos three huge ones only cost RM12. Moreover, it is not sweet but rather chewy.

No one dares to eat it so I had to finish all three. The good thing is the place was very dark and I can’t see what I am swallowing. Hehehe. However, I only notice they look so eeky after I got back to the hotel and downloaded the macro shots (taken with my son’s camera).

I was anticipating some major tummy ache but lucky, nothing happens. The scallops or whatever they are, were grilled till cook so I am fine, I guess. Otherwise, they do look pretty gross, ya?

A business would require phone calls to be made to customers and made available at all times. Of course this would mean that telephone charges would be expensive, and productivity could be lost because of the money spent on telephone charges. Yet it would be close to impossible to eliminate making phone calls in a business, as telephone calls is part of business culture and you will lose customers if you do not make your phone calls. So how do you solve the issue? The answer is to resort to a hosted PBX service. Now you can do so with VoiceNEXT's service. Their state-of-the art technology enables your business to make those phone calls via the internet, whether it is local or international, everything is possible. Check out the VoiceNEXT Hosted PBX Demo and see how this technology can benefit you as a business owner.

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An elephant is perceived to be a wise animal, but their brains is a size of a pea. Humans who deny God's existence are therefore worse than an elephant.

This story was told to me by a man in his fifties. He is a well-known man about town. There is a street in town named after his father. You wouldn’t expect to hear this story from a man like him. He is so down-to-earth and straight forward.

At the time of the story, he had just joined the civil service. He was posted to a town in the second division. Being new to town, they had no place to stay and they ( my friend and his three companions ) were alloted a government quarters which had long been abandoned.

When they first saw the place, it made a good impression. It was big and spacious. The place looked well maintained. However the area around it was covered with knee length grass. It was linked to an outside toilet by a staircase at the back of the quarters.

Upon entering the quarters they were pleasantly surprised. It was spotless. On the first night they moved in, my friend whom I shall call James here was very happy with his companions. They stayed up late to clean the place. He was tired and retired to his room early. He could hear his friends sweeping the place and washing the dishes.

On the second night, his friends were still cleaning the place till late at night. The sound irritated him and kept him from sleeping so he went out to tell them to leave it till the next day. Upon exiting the room, he saw nobody but the sound of the floor being swept persisted.

He exited through the back door to go to the toilet. When he came back, he peeped in through the window of his friends’ rooms. They were all fast asleep. He is a staunch Catholic and he spent the whole night saying his prayers.

The next morning he went to town to look for another place to stay and found an apartment above a shop. The rental was RM200 a night. Two of them were agreeable to move out with him but the third was reluctant to have another expense and decided to stay put.

They were still arguing about this matter as they walked back to the quarters. Before reaching the place however, they saw that the quarters was brightly lit. They hid behind a tree and continued to look at the quarters. After a while, they saw a lady peering out through the window combing her long hair. An intruder was their first thought.

As there were altogether four of them, they gathered their courage to question this intruder. Upon entry to the quarters they couldn’t see the lady any more. However they saw a broom moving to and fro sweeping the floor with no sign of any one holding the broom. The dishes were being washed by unseen hands.

They fled. This time the decision was unanimous. None stayed there that night. The next morning,they all went to the district office and made some complaint of wanting to move out because they were afraid of snakes in the tall grass. Then they were told that snakes might indeed be there because no one had stayed there for many, many years.

This couldn’t explain why the house was spotless. The district office sent some one to cut the grass. When they cut the grass, they found some tomb-stones in the gardens surrounding the quarters. Apparently the area around it had been a burial ground for a family.

They decided that the place was indeed haunted and quickly moved out their things before nightfall. The quarters according to James has been left vacant ever since although it is still well maintained as if it is occupied and it remains spotless inside.

They later found out the district office had indeed been aware of the rumours surrounding the place but assumed as the four of them were new to town, they were ignorant and would prove the rumours wrong. In the end, they proved the rumours right.

I was introduced to this movie by an artistic and musical person, a choir director and excellent cook. According to him, it is a good movie to bring a kid to watch. It is exciting to think of a museum coming alive after closing hours. There was so much promise in the concept however the director didn’t quite deliver.

Ben Stiller and Wiliams and computer-generated things that go bump in the night didn’t quite save the show. After a while, it became tedious sitting through the movie. However, if I had brought Benghui, I might have seen it through his eyes and my review might be different. He would have loved it. At least I think so

This is not a paid ad.

十年前…

双喜外婆:”经济不好,商家给的日历都缩小了.”

双喜妈妈:”哎呀,有得送给你就偷笑了,还嫌.”

双喜外婆:”那些字很小!我老花看到很辛苦!”

双喜妈妈:”酱就说你老花看不到啦,不要讲人家省钱缩小.”

十年后…

双喜爸:”老婆,哪,新嘅月份牌.”

双喜妈妈:”啧!有无搞错!咁细份!”

双喜爸:”有得送俾你咩偷笑咯,重嫌细.”

双喜妈妈:”D字咁细,我老花好加难睇嘛.”

………..

不是不报,时辰未到,谨记对长辈说话要客气点.

妈的老花眼,连读部落格也要按Ctrl+.

I hate receiving email spams, who doesn’t right? The volume of email spams that I receive hasn’t decrease over the years.

The emails that I receive range from the from the usually annoying sex enhancing drug, sex toys, to a variant of nigerian scam email which ask you for your help to deposit some amount of money.

Most of these emails are stoppable by the keyword filters and bayessian-based spam blocker which scans the frequency of words inside the spammers email. The filter will try to find the keywords commonly associated with scam and spam emails and able to put the spammers email directly into the trash without it ever reaching your inbox.

However, a new breed of spam emails emerged recenty, these emails dono not use text to relay their messages, but instead uses images which can easily bypass keyword-based spam filters which is common in email clients.

However, BorderWare’s has come out with a solution, “Intercept Image Analysis”, which takes the spam fighting methods further by inspecting over 30 attributes about each image, to adapt, learn and defeat new image spam campaigns.

Intercept Image analysis is specifically designed stop image spam , and is compatible with any email clients that you use. Try it now, and send those email spams to >/dev/null

~ -this is a paid post-

Sometime, in the middle of the night, I like to listen to music while working on the computer, hacking codes or plain writing blogs on my Linux desktop.

Because of my Linux desktop default installation ‘discourage’ me from listening to MP3 streams, so I’ve to find alternative Internet radio that uses the free OGG Vorbis streams.

So far I found that Xiph Streams directory is the best internet radio directory that can be found on the internet. It feature collection stations dedicated for certain genre of songs, such as blues, hard rock, dance, alternative rock, jazz and few others.

The streams is playable on Totem Player, XMMS, Rhythmbox, and almost all music player available for the GNU Linux operating systems.

FYI, I’m currently listening to a radio station which plays oldies songs. :)

Tags: linux, gnu/linux, ubuntu, radio, streaming, mp3, ogg, vorbis

This is a sponsored post

It is of course a necessity for probloggers and internet marketers to find every way possible to drive traffic to their blogs or websites. This is because a high traffic will ensure that there will be a steady amount of income coming in. Of course this depends highly on whether you will play by the rules of SEO and traffic driving. There are many tips out there, some are legal and some are not. The non-legal ones could get your site blacklisted from the major search engines (such as Google for example) and that will be not good for you in the long run.

So when I found this blog called Look What G-Man Found, I found out very interesting tips and tricks on how one can increase traffic to their websites or blog. The Keywords method is a very interesting one as it targets certain keywords that visitors would be most likely to use depending on the niche that your site or blog is writing for. As soon as these keywords are spidered by a search engine and if you are smart enough to know how to optimise it, your site or blog will be at the top of the search engine list for that keyword that is searched for. Interesting, no?

But of course this does not mean that will be easy. It will take a lot of time and effort, you need to be really patient. I mean, really really patient, for this to work. But well, it is the legitimate way of doing things and hence the results will certainly satisfy you if you do as was instructed. The above blog certainly has plenty of information on the topic, so I suggest you have a look at it. It is your choice, but you can learn a lot from GMan. Take a look and decide for yourself, you will not regret it.

Pic courtesy of www.gps.caltech.edu.com

I remember once I was at David Chien Garden, and a man we all call “Lau Hor’ or Tiger once commented that a man who kills a protected animal is no hero but a murderer. There was a slot about a tiger that had attacked a woman and was shot dead finally.

At that time I kept silent for I knew it was a delicate balance : between man and nature.

Some people who live in big towns and cities do not understand the psyche of people who live outside the big cities. Do you remember the 12-year-old boy who was eaten by a crocodile? The town folk sometimes forget there are two sides of the coin and not only the animal has rights but the villagers too. They too have a right to survival.

Now, this case of a woman who lost four of her cows. it may be no big deal to most of us but perhaps a big investment to her. When some monkeys enter the home and forage for food, the city folk make a big noise and it is reported in the press.

A middle-aged woman from Kampung Benawa, Marudi intends to ask the authorities for compensation for four cows she claims were eaten by crocodiles. The problem is she does not know who to forward the claim to. The government through its agency, Sarawak Forestry Corporation does not allow crocodiles to be killed. Due to this, the villagers can’t get rid of the crocodiles. Therefore, she feels the government should pay her some compensation. She also voiced fears for the safety of her fellow villagers along the Tutoh river.

When asked for the size of the crocodiles, she pointed to a 20ft plus speedboat in the river.

It is a delicate balance. The villagers too need to survive. Blame it on the population boom, blame it on progress, blame it on shrinking habitats for the animals but don’t just blame it on the innocent villagers.

Article courtesy of the Borneo Post 10/01/07

I think years ago I have attended costume parties where I dressed myself in very fancy party dress like everyone else did. Wow, when I think of it, it was really a lot of fun. I got to dress up like a movie character that I like, complete with all the fun and funny costume accessories that it came with.

I was Superman then.

Anyway, just now I came acorss this online store that sells fancy costumes for children. The selection is really hugh, there are so many different kinds of fancy designs to choose from for the main costumes, masks, wigs and accessories.

You can rent their costumes if you are staying in the UK. But if you are from other parts of the world, the good news is that they accept credit card payments and delivery is free for orders over a certain amount. I particularly like the Superman Costume, as well as the Harry Potter Movie Robe costume. I think they will look awesome on any kids!

So, why not you check out the website and get some cool costumes for your children?

Tagged: fancy costumes, children

Since Auntie Lillian has tagged me, its time for that Top 5 movie meme that I've been meaning to write all day. There's been quite a few actually and here I will mention some of the movies that have left a strong impact on me for the past few years or so. Actually I think I have more than 5 movies that I like but well…

1) Star Wars: Episodes 1 - 3

Yeah, I love Star Wars, so just sue me. I know that many fans disliked Episode 1 due to the antics of Jar Jar Binks but for me, Episode 1 sets the whole tone of the movie, and it is really a very artistic and a beautiful one. Episode 2 doesn't count for much but it does show a mature Anakin and the romance between him and Padme. Episode 3 is probably the best and the darkest of the whole trilogy, hands down.

2) Mean Girls

Yeah I just love Mean Girls. High school teenage flick with a dose of funny events and romance always keeps me interested. Really.

3) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

I grew up on the books and I had always wondered why they never turned it into movies. Imagine my joy when Disney announced that they will film all the books in the Chronicles. The first film was everything I expected, and more. The only think I disliked was a deviation from the storyline and the addition of characters which did not exist in the book. Plus, some omissions from the original book. Oh, well.

4) Lord of the Rings

Hey, it is LOTR! Need I say more?

5) The Devil Wears Prada

Yeah, I love Anne Hathaway! Poor girl has to face that evil boss. Yet another girl flick, but I love it nonetheless.

And now I will tag…brother JD, a newcomer emporia and maybe brother Amir Butler?

Ever had a broken pin on IDE hard drive? It’s frustrating when that’s happen, especially when the hard drive holds your valueable stuffs.

I found a nice website that explains a step-by-step guide to fix your broken IDE pins using ordinary tin foil and a sewing needle.

Visit this website for more information : http://arem.us/stuff/hdd/

Tags: hardware, cdrom, ide, hard disk, diy, computers, hdd, howto, windows, tutorials

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Oh well, so much for culinary experience and adventure in Melaka. I was sick and lost my sense of smell and taste buds. Plus with a giddy head, I wasn’t in the mood to explore anywhere. Moreover, all the meals are almost taken care off by the relatives so I didn’t even have a chance to sample anything.

Here are the photos I took from the wedding reception when the groom came for the bride. Normally, we will serve some sweet local cakes for the bunch of visitors. The above is a plate of ondeh-ondeh. Gula Melaka, being from Melaka is one of the main ingredients in making ondeh-ondeh. I have the recipe for Ondeh-ondeh here.

Some gaudy coloured kuehs, which is a little like Penang ‘ang-koo’ kueh but only much gaudy.
I did sample one and it is made of green beans, with its skin. Penang’s angkoo only uses the mungbeans without skin so it is much nicer.

Curry puffs. Actually, there are lots of other foods in the buffet but the groom was supposed to arrive at 8.30 am to pick the bride. So, my sis rushed me and I never got to eat anything. Boohoo! Why in the world would the groom come to fetch the bride at 8 am, I can’t figure. He lives like 10 mins away from the Hotel Puri. Doh! Must be some fengshui thingie about lucky hours.

Pulut ta-tai. Penang ones better.

I did had some nice seafood at the Portugese Settlement but not sure when I get to blog it because the internet speed is killing. In fact, this post was written in parts since yesterday. Grrr…

When I first saw this I said to myself, "Will anyone actually watch this after a crappy trailer like that??" Good thing that I am a Star Wars fan, eh?