Eee PC

Oh, my first impulse buy of the year! OK, I have been eyeing for some time...after my friend introduced me to its existence few months back. It's been selling like hot cakes, so I thought this was the one good time to grab it. Indeed there were not many units left when I made the decision...hopefully the right one!

Well its main attraction to me is the portability: after all it's 7' screen and 0.9 kg weight is half the size and weight of notebooks these days. While it is small, it does not lack power: battery life of 3 hrs and wi-fi enabled, it enables convenient surfing - that's the main reason I want it for! It can also play music and videos if I want it too.

I haven't gotten around to testing its full capabilities yet...but what I've seen is adequate for me. The scrolling is a bit jerky though, but one can't complain too much. The other drawback is that after all the preloaded software, there's just that miniscule 1.4GB flash space left; oh well, a 2GB thumb drive costs only RM 35 and that will do fine if I want additional space! Of course it doesn't come with any CD/DVD drives. Other than that I think it will serve me well...at a relatively inexpensive price of RM 1,299.

Specs:
ASUS Eee PC 4G
512 MB DDR-2 RAM
4GB SSD-flash drive
Wi-fi enabled
0.3 MP webcam
3 USB ports
SD/MMC card slot
Linux Xandros OS

I'll post the pics later, when I get it downloaded from my camera...

Edit: here they are...

WTF?

What the f&^%? All connections to international sites just went down, except for Blogger (?)...local sites are fine. What the hell are those people doing? It has been painfully slow for the last few weeks and now it's almost totally out! They should give refund for each day services are disrupted!!! Best effort basis my ass...

Edit: I know what the f*&^%#$^ problem is - the stupid IP address! 60.50.xx.xxx sucks!

Predictability 3

Well, as expected the Patriots made it into the Superbowl - huffing and puffing but in nonetheless. Surprisingly thanks to their running game as Tom Brady had a bit of an off day. Goes to show that the Pats have the versatility needed to cap the perfect unbeaten season. Their opponents? Surprise, surprise: the New York Giants. Another Manning stands in the way of the Pats - but I have a feeling that the Pats will romp home in two weeks time! Can't wait for it...

As usual, there is some corruption and mismanagement to be had in the civil service; this time at the Tourism Ministry. In short, two blokes awarded a contract for making a tourism video to a non-existent Korean company (whose owners are kam cheng with the two jokers), and the Ministry tried to keep a lid on things by doing their own internal investigation. Unfortunately the ACA got wind of it, and now the issue is out in the open. And following the PM's cue, the Minister involved says "I tak tahu'...so the Malay saying 'bapa borek anak rintik' rings true in the government...

Speaking of the Minister, the key phrase for the week is 'Saya dah lupa'...uttered repeatedly during the RCI into the Lingam-gate scandal! I wish these people would lupa to suck the people's money at every turn!

Of course! VK Lingam denies that the man implicated in the video is not him - he looks and sounds like him, but it's not him! Must be a body double...reminds me of a CSI: Miami episode! Well you don't expect him to go down without a fight, now do you? Anyway the show goes on...

Speaking of shows, read this: Drama Minggu Ini ala MIC. I just wonder how declaring Thaipusam a public holiday in KL and Putrajaya would appease the Indians...how would indians in other states feel - marginalised? Ha ha...

Cloverfield

My fourth movie in a week! Must be getting an overdose - perhaps that's why I'm having a hangover. No wait...that's not it! Oh yeah - it's the movie. Well, for those who haven't watched it yet: be warned - you might wanna bring along a barf bag, and hold the food too...

That aside, this movie is great. Fully shot from a videocam and from a first person point of view, ala Blair Witch, it's a novel approach to a monster movie. Well it started slow, but the action quickly heats up as the monster attacks. What keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats is the monster itself. JJ is great - he kept the 'star' under wraps, adding to the suspense, till the end of the movie. Which is fantastic. Actually the big one looks a bit like a praying mantis; the smaller ones like spiders. But why do all these monsters have to feed on humans? Well it's got its shortcomings - like how the videocam continuously film for eight hours, and how the tape survived the whole carpet bombing of the city... Don't think into it too much - just enjoy the movie.

I guess a lot of people couldn't take the nauseating side effect of the movie - quite a number left halfway. And most who stayed had some form of headache and dizziness, including myself. Nevertheless I enjoyed the movie greatly. Unfortunately I just learnt that I missed something after the ending credits - a hint of a sequel...

Think I'll get the DVD when it comes out...that way I can watch it over and over again...minus the hangover!

Movie Marathon

I've never watched this much movies in a single week - so this is my marathon. Was sick in Butterworth over Monday to Wednesday and couldn't do much anyway; so why not go and spend some time catching up on some shows? So I did...

1. Game Plan
I think I'm a sucker for Disney shows. This is another attempt at creating a macho man-kiddie contrast, family type movie, ala The Pacifier. While I personally feel that The Pacifier was much better, this movie doesn't fall far short. The Rock I guess, is far removed from his macho-man character but doesn't look out of place; indeed he fits into the character rather well. But he's not the star of the show; eight-year old Maddison Pettis is. Wow, can that little girl act!!! She played the part perfectly. And to think that she has such a small part in Cory In The House. Will be looking forward to more from her; she reminds me a bit of Dakota Fanning. A good family oriented show, and a must for those looking for a feel-good feeling, even though a bit cheesy (aren't all those feel-good movies the same??) And oh, watch for the ballet play - the highlight of the two-hour movie.

2. National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
If only there were so much treasure around for people to find. It isn't actually that bad; it has its moments - action and comedic. Perhaps its main attraction are its star-studded cast. Other than that it doesn't offer much apart from being a good yarn. Well it does bring to mind whether such a book or document actually exists...after all a lot of truths we know today were rumours of yesteryear.

3. Alien vs. Predator 2
I've just got a single line for this: what a sorry excuse for a sequel!

I'm done!

Shorts...

So the Royal Commission has started its work into the Lingam-gate tape...just wondering whether it'll lead anywhere. We all know who the fall-guy is, and will take the fall if needed. But does it change anything? I guess it won't...the Chief Justice will still take his place come next year, unless BN fails in the coming election badly. After all why change anything if they're still returned with a commanding majority?

And till now Sharlinie has still not be found...though it's difficult to envision, her parents should start preparing for the worst. Even in these trying times, there are individuals trying to take advantage - it just sickens me; but I guess there will be opportunists anywhere, anytime... Meanwhile let's hope against hope...

Oh, what happened to the dragnet around Johor following the brutal murder of the Johor MIC Youth chief? And the newspapers are curiously silent now...obviously the killer has escaped and the police are too ashamed to admit it. Wonder which scapegoat they will arrest to 'save face'...

Predictability 2

Hah, lightning does strike twice!! Just a few days after his comments, the stock market takes a beating yet again. At least it's not as bad as the one last year...but I guess the punters are smarter this time around, and a lot of small players are away from the market following the increase in minimum brokerage fees. For those caught, they have to lick their wounds...

As for me, I just found out that Ramunia has been suspended pending an announcement. Takeover maybe? Danged it....just sold 70% of my holdings two days ago. Me and my itchy hands...but that's my luck all this while. Go go Vincent Tan...sic...

You know what's irony is? The US financial giants (read Merill Lynch and Citigroup) whoring themselves to Asian and Middle Eastern sovereign funds for capital injection after reeling from the subprime debacle; and their saviours were the very ones looked disdainly upon by these once-mighty giants of the financial world. I would not be surprised if a few years down the line, the US would be 'owned' by Asians and Middle Easterners...the end of American-style capitalism?

Predictability

PM: Confidence perks up bourse

See? What did I tell you? Well at least this time around he didn't encourage anyone to jump in and swim with the sharks!

On another note, the New England Patriots did enough to advance to the AFC Conference game after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-20; as usual Tom Brady and the Patriots offense were almost flawless, while their aging defence did enough to stop the Jaguar's running game. Then again, I felt that Jacksonville tried to throw the football more than they should - after all their running game was their strength. There was just one interception the whole game: on the Jags in the fourth quarter, which effectively ended the game. So now the Patriots would have to wait to see who their opponents would be: defending champs Indianapolis Colts, or wanna-be champs San Diego Chargers...

Caveat Emptor

The 'frying' of stocks ahead of the general election is now in full swing. With the KLCI Composite Index breaching 1,500 points against the current worldwide bearish trend, I am really worried for the punters pouring into the market to ride the wave. Only local funds are in the market, I'm quite sure - foreign funds are busy licking their wounds from the ever-worsening subprime crisis, and have little to invest currently until their books are sorted out. And one must note that the majority of gainers are index-linked stocks.

So caveat emptor in these seemingly good times. I'm expectedly waiting to hear Mr. Sleepyhead announcing how good and vibrant the stock market is...reminiscent to his comments a year ago, remember? And we know what happened that time around...

And oh, I just wanna list down my stock holdings this month, for the fun of it:

BJCORP - Berjaya Corp aka Vincent Tan
DJIACOR - Dijaya Corp aka Tropicana
HUBLINE - Hubline Shipping
HUAAN - Sino Hua-An International, first mainland China company listed in Bursa Malaysia
KINSTEL - Kinsteel aka Perwaja Steel
LBS-LC - LBS Bina Group Loan Stocks
MAHSING - Mah Sing Group
MJPERAK-PA - Maju Perak Preference Shares
MUHIBAH - Muhibbah Engineering
NOTION - Notion VTEC
POS - Pos Malaysia
PJDEV - PJ Development
RAMUNIA - Ramunia Holdings
YILAI - Yi-Lai Berhad
YTLPOWR - YTL Power International

Bad to Worse

As if the recent abduction of little Sharlinie was not bad enough, now we have this brutal killing of a prominent MIC politician in broad daylight!! The criminals are getting bolder by the day, and apparently the police are helpless...perhaps it's time we Malaysians take the law into our own hands? Notwithstanding this recent fact that the crime rate is at its worst!!

I wonder whether this killing is due to business/politics or a random one? Anyway, Mr. Samy Vellu should be closely looking over his shoulders now - he could be the next target!! I was in Johor Baru yesterday, and there were no police road-blocks to be seen when I left the city at about 4.30 p.m. Urm, that is about 2 hours after the incident - plenty of time for the shooter to escape!! So much for a swift reaction!

And as of this morning, poor little Sharlinie is no closer to being found...

Not Another!

While the police are away hunting for the Chua Soi Lek porno directors and chasing after peaceful gatherers, I had the funny feeling that something big was in the offing. But I never thought that another child kidnapping incident it would be. Obviously I missed an earlier kidnapping of another child, which was thankfully found safe and sound a few hours later. I pray that this girl be found soon.

I wonder what the public backlash would be if she met the same fate as poor Nurin Jazimin? Incidentally, the perpetrator has still eluded the police and I hope, not found another victim!!!

Most Painful Experience

You know what's the most painful experience a guy would ever have to go through? And I'm not talking about girlfriend breakups OK?? Yeah, you might have guessed it - being kicked in the balls. Fair enough to say that every guy are experienced in this? Uh huh... Well, for those unfortunate enough never to have this (hopefully) once-in-a-lifetime experience, let me share mine with you...

Never guessed it would happen...was a sneak attack by a friend. OK, maybe I was asking for it. Got kicked from the back, in between the thighs - you get the picture... Well, for a split second after the impact, just felt a slight twinge of discomfort...I remember thinking what the fuck? Then the pain hit - deep severe boring pain, rising from down there into my abdomen!! Boy I was hoping to just pass out but I had the unfortunate experience of living through it all, clutching my balls on the ground. Next came the nausea and retching, as if I'd throw up everything. These two alternated assaulting my senses...I could remember trying to shout 'fuck you' under my breath - you just don't have the air to say anything! I was down for at least 20 minutes - really down and out. Oh God...it was something to remember. When the sensations finally subsided, I could barely stand; took me another 10-15 minutes before I could even begin to walk. Hmmph...my friend was laughing all the way... Yeah, your balls will be mine some day!

Let me just leave you with a visual description of what I felt, courtesy of some dumb asses and YouTube!

Cooking Up A Story?

What's up with the cooking oil story? All of a sudden, we hear of shortages of cooking oil last Saturday, leading to panic buying all over the country. The first news came out on Thursday in Pahang and Terengganu; then there was a limit on cooking oil purchases which brought the whole saga to national attention. Apparently it only involved palm-oil based cooking oils, and not others. Nonetheless panic buying occurred over the weekend, until most shops and hypermarkets were sold out! Then we have a minister saying that they will flood the market with cooking oil, and with that the whole saga ends. I think.

I'm still perplexed here:

1. Why is there a quota on cooking oil production?
2. Why is there a shortage of palm-oil based cooking oil, when we are the top palm-oil producer in the world?
3. Where did the government find that much cooking oil in such a short time?
4. Who is controlling the ebb and flow of cooking oil supplies?
5. Is this related to the sudden jump in CPO prices over the last two weeks?

In short, I just wonder whether there was any actual cooking oil shortage...or has the consumer been an unwitting participant in another government-orchestrated sandiwara?

Finally...

Yeah, finally turned the corner few days ago...the fever and cough more or less resolved. Still a bit under the weather, but not too bad, considering this bout of illness. I'm not the kind of person who falls sick easily - probably due to my Paeds exposure - so when it does hit, it's usually bad, like this time. Then again, everyone in the office has had this virus, with me being the latest victim, so I hope that it would have run its course.

Anyway I'll be going on my field trips soon and the fresh air will probably do me much good. Hopefully, there'll be a chance for a holiday or two in between?

Meanwhile I'm stuck addicted to this Pirates app on Facebook...arrrr....

(A)Duh!

For the first time since I started my blog - someone I know read my blog (with my knowledge of course...I just wonder how many others have read it without my knowledge? And if they have, they're not letting me on!!). Of course this happened with my expressed permission...that the blog will kept a secret, for now at least.

And you know what his comment was? That my blog is panjang lebar!!! Hmm, just wondering whether he actually read the postings...perhaps not, otherwise he would have been surprised, if not shocked!

(A)Duh...

Landmark

Yoo-hoo!! This is a personal landmark of sorts for me at the LYN forum...it took me long enough, but now I have the big thou!


P.S. Isn't the baby cute?

Music

Uplifting song, in difficult times...



Thanks to my friend who introduced me to this song...

Cough, cough

Wow, this is just a damn stubborn bug...floored me for the last two days - now I'm working and walking like a damned zombie!!! Can't sleep at nights because of the constant coughing; now having sore throat, chest pain and breathlessness because of the coughing. Fortunately fever is not a main feature. Just feels lousy...bleaargh...no medicine for me!

Hope I get through this quickly...

Expected-lah!

Resignation! So, what did you expect? His position politically was untenable once the admission was made. He should have announced his resignation yesterday, but chose to cling to the vain hope that he might have held on to his positions. Guess common sense got to him, before he got the boot instead!


Give him credit for one thing though - at least he has the balls to accept responsibility for what he has done, unlike so many other politicians. That everyone can learn from.

Now I'm sure the attention will turn to the individual(s) involved in bringing our disgraced Health Minister to his knees. Well, whether this is an internal set-up, or an external one...we'll wait for the drama to play itself out. No point making conclusions, although the finger points to an inside job.

On another note, this is big news worldwide...this is one instance Malaysia Boleh! doesn't apply!

Mad Cow!

Just wondering how people come up with these ideas...

So soon?

Just barely into the 2008, and we have this: I am the one in the sex DVD, says Chua ! Well whatever that happens behind closed doors is their own business, I guess... Wonder who'd set him up and trying to bring him down? No wonder there was some hint on Screenshots on New Year's eve!

But he doesn't have the right to say anything about marriages and family values now does he? Even after having support from his family - more for the media than anything else...

Let's see how the story unfolds...

Phooey!

Yeah, first post of the new year and I'm sick! Yup, not too badly, but enough to keep me at home last night and today. What a way to start of the new year... I guess things can only look up from here!

Since I was sick to the stomach, thought watching the fireworks display would be uplifting; it was initially, but after seeing the Sydney one, I can only say: 'No fight'! You decide for yourself!

Local fireworks

Sydney fireworks: last two minutes beats the heck out of our six minutes