Tuesday, April 29, 2014

How to prolong lifespan of camera batteries


My good old trusty Canon IXUS camera has been giving me some hiccups lately. The battery is the problem. It quits on me more often than it used to. My fault really as I haven't paid any attention to the battery which needs to be changed.

While checking online for batteries I came across this, kodak camera batteries batteryheads.com. If you own a Kodak camera (or other, I don't know), this might be a site you'd want to bookmark.

Incidentally, I found on the Canon website some useful information about:

How to ensure that your batteries will not run out on you at the crucial moment..


It says to use special longer-life lithium batteries. They may cost twice as much, but last three times longer. Then it says to use rechargeable Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) or, even better, Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. NiMH batteries charge up to 500 times and take just three hours for a full charge. Now you know.

Next, it suggests to buy multiple backup batteries, so you'll always have spares. This one is just right for me.

And this tip is easy to do which most of us, me included, are guilty of, Get used to turning off the camera between shots. Don't leave the camera on unless you're ready to shoot again immediately.


The image: Yoda of Star Wars taken at the Toy Museum in Penang

Water rationing and the dams

After nearly two months of water rationing in the Klang Valley, it must be wonderful news to know that an end to the exercise is close at hand.

Dams are showing an elevated water level from worrying levels of less than 40% early March to higher levels right now attributed to frequent rains the past two weeks.


This was when it dipped to below 40%.

Selangor is working on a plan of drawing water from mining pools and 10 new pumps from China are due to arrive in a month. Together with the existing nine pumps looks like our water woes are fast behind us. Fingers crossed.


Image source: The Star



Monday, April 28, 2014

The World of Flip-flops

Flip-flops are the rage these days. Known simply as Japanese slippers here, they used to be in a standard colour scheme of blue and white, flip-flops have made a major comeback here in Malaysia.

The contemporary version comes in a variety of colours too, practically any colour imaginable.

They are so popular that you can find flip-flop stalls operating in shopping malls and complexes. If you come to Malaysia, buy some back to take home for friends and family. Lightweight and useful, they do make great gifts from your travel.

On the other hand, looking to start up your own little stall? Go here for a lead..shopforbags.com for wholesale flip flops - mind-blogging stock at wholesale prices!

Happy flip-flopping!

Saturday, April 26, 2014

"Selamat Datang" Mr President


WHEN Air Force One lands at the RMAF base in Subang this afternoon, it will truly be a historic moment for both the United States and Malaysia. The President will be in Malaysia from April 26 to 18, 2014. He flies in from Japan and his next stop is The Philippines.

US President Barack Obama’s trip, originally scheduled for October last year, will be the first by a sitting US President since 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson landed at the same airport on Oct 30.



Related articles:
'Selamat Datang’ from all Malaysians
Try the durian, Mr President... and nasi lemak

The president's flight and ride



Image source: The Star

Tuxedos for Kids

Tuxedos not only look great on grown men, little boys look amazingly dashing and cute in them too.

A girlfriend's sister is getting married in September and they are making sure that little boys in the family will be in tuxes at the dinner reception to be held in a hotel in the city.

The thing is, it's not easy to buy tuxedos off the shelf here so they may have to resort to buying them online. I think they have shortlisted a number of online stores but kids tuxedos from this website seem to have more choices both in designs and colours.

Do you work with foam?

Many people are very good with their hands in the handicraft department, that is. I have a colleague who is so good with crochet that she makes blouses, bags and such for her friends and family.

Another makes pottery items and the pieces she makes are so beautiful they are even good enough for shop shelves. But, she only makes for herself and as gifts.

Yet another makes costume jewellery. So far, no one is working with foam projects. But if you are, here's a site for you so you can have a wider choice and best prices, I'm sure. Get your foam products here, from foambymail.com. Choices galore awaits.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday Frlics - What Pattern Is Your Brain?

If you are like me today, not wanting to work the brain too much and especially not for a quiz or something like that, this week's Friday Frolics quiz is just right for you.

Without further ado, I'll leave you with the simple quiz..

Happy Friday!



Your Brain is Focused

You're a simple thinker, and this is actually a very good thing.

You don't complicate matters when you don't have to.

You look for the simplest explanation or solution, and you go with that.

As a result, your mind is uncluttered and free of stress.



Last week's quiz: How Do You Persuade?

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

A Class Ring for Memories

After years of coming up with corporate gifts for employees, we finally got over the stage of mugs and t-shirts and umbrellas.

It's a blue denim shirt this year. A bit troublesome this one because we all had to go try out the samples for size. Still, it's a more functional gift, I suppose.

Strange that in school we never thought about getting something physical to commemorate our being together like getting a class ring, for instance. We only came away with some class photos and memories.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

David Moyes has been sacked by Manchester United

The Dailymail.co.uk reported that

David Moyes has been sacked by Manchester United with immediate effect.


Chief executive Ed Woodward arrived at Carrington at 8am on Tuesday morning to inform the Scot face-to-face of the news.

Ryan Giggs will take temporary charge for the rest of the season as interim manager.

It emerged on Monday that United's owners, the Glazer family, had lost patience with Moyes after a dismal season that has seen the reigning Barclays Premier League champions slump to seventh in the table.

The final straw was Sunday's 2-0 defeat at Everton, their 11th in the Barclays Premier League this season, and a result that left the title holders 13 points off the Champions League places.

For more on Moyes - news, photos, videos, timeline of his tenure at Old Trafford, visit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk


Here's the latest English Premier League (EPL) table with three more games to go. The way things are going Manchester United may not even get into next year's UEFA Europa League. Argh!!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Home improvement ideas

Looking for a great idea for the home or rather the kitchen? How about this great mixer lift. It's an ideal way to store and conceal small appliances or big appliances such as a mixer when they are not in use.

With an easy pull of the shelf, the heavy-duty lifting arms gracefully raise your mixer to counter top level, giving you the kitchen accessory you need in a matter of seconds.

The Internet is a amazing resource for ideas for home improvement. Happy searching!

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Trade in your printer


If you have a printer that has conked out on you, rather than ditching it, find a printer distributor and see if they accept a trade-in.

Apparently, there is such a trade printer scheme in the printer industry. You just need to look around and ask the right people.

I know because I went with a friend to Low Yat Plaza at Bukit Bintang, end of last year, and she traded in her broken-down printer for a brand new one and at a discount too! I kid you not!



Friday, April 18, 2014

Friday Frolics - How Do You Persuade?

So you think you know yourself pretty well? See if this week's quiz on persuasion is what you think you are when it comes to persuasion.

Happy Friday, everyone!

KL is overcast this morning. We still need rain to fill our dams and our tanks. Think rain for us, won't you..



You Persuade with Logos

You consider persuasion to be pretty cut and dried. Either the facts, reasoning, and evidence are there... or they aren't.

You look at arguments very carefully, and you expect others to do the same. You think that logic speaks for itself.


The great thing about evidence is that it can't be refuted. You look at sources carefully and gather as much supporting materials as you can.

And if someone can produce better evidence of the other side, then you're open to changing your mind. It all comes down to the facts for you.



Last week's quiz: The Kite Test

Sexy mini dresses

Passing by a textile store the other day, I was amazed at the prices. If you sew your own clothes, you would be having a blast at the choices and prices of textiles here in Malaysia. Buy some fabrics home and make some pretty clothes or things. But then again, shopping online for clothes can be cost-effective as well.

If you are looking for clothes particularly mini dresses, have I got the site for you! A great site to bookmark and the prices are a steal too. How would a $28 sexy mini dress grab you? Be amazed by the selection of sexiest mini dresses here on the site. Feel free to share it with your friends.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Karpal Singh dies in road accident

Malaysia has lost a great statesman, a true patriot, a fighter for the people.
Farewell, Tiger of Jelutong.
Rest in peace.


Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh died in a car accident on the North-South Expressway this morning near Gua Tempurung, Kampar in Perak.

Kampar police chief Superintendent Ng Kong Soon confirmed that Karpal died in a road accident at KM306.1 of the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung at 12.40 am today.

Karpal, who would have turned 74 in June, was believed to be travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang to attend a court hearing scheduled for this morning. Continue reading: The MalaysianInsider


From Malasiakini:
Veteran opposition MP and lawyer Karpal Singh was killed in an accident near Gopeng in Perak this morning.

His long-time personal assistant Michael Cornelius Selvam Vellu, 39, was also killed.

Karpal's son Ram Karpal and the driver were also injured in the accident which occurred at 1.10am near 301.6km northbound marker along the the North-South Highway.

Malaysiakini learnt that Karpal and his son, who is also a lawyer, were heading north for a court case later today.

Photos taken at the scene of the accident - near Gua Tempurung
in Kampar - show the white Toyota Alphard badly damaged. Continue reading: Malaysiakini



Update on April 23:

The late YB Karpal Singh's family says "Thank you"..



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Sinking ferry en route to Jeju Island, South Korea

Update: This mishap left 29 people dead and 274 others missing. The captain of the ferry that capsized was arrested.

Related article: Sunken Korea ferry relatives give DNA swabs to help identify dead


It is incidents like this that gives me the jitters about taking a trip on a sea vessel and to think that going on a Three Gorges cruise in China is on my so-called bucket list.  Aarghh!

Just glad that there is no fatality when this passenger jetty got into trouble en route to touristy Jeju Island in Korea. Unfortunately, the latest news reported that officials said two people had died.


From The Star:

SEOUL (Reuters) - All 338 high school students and teachers on board a South Korean passenger ferry that was reported to be sinking on Wednesday have been rescued, a school official told Reuters.

The ferry, identified as the Sewol, was carrying about 470 passengers, including the students and teachers, en route to Jeju island, about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Korean peninsula.

It sent a distress signal after it began to list badly.

(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Ju-min Park; Editing by Paul Tait)

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Home with a View

A colleague and her husband just invested in an apartment in Penang. She said they intend to be living in Penang when they retire. I can imagine the kind of view they'd be enjoying since their apartment is facing the Andaman Sea.

Talk about Penang, I'm just so glad that Lim Guan Eng suggested a change of name of the IJM Promenade to Karpal Singh Drive to honour a deserving Malaysian, Karpal Singh, Tiger of Jelutong, who passed away in the early morning of April 17 in an auto accident. Persiaran Karpal Singh is the Malay equivalent. His funeral is today just as we speak.

And speaking of Penang and property with a view, if you are in the US and are looking for a home with a view, I just found a site for bal harbour real estate which may interest you. Check it out!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday Frolics - The Kite Test

Hello World! It's a beautiful day outside here in Kuala Lumpur! It's blue skies but I can't really say all things nice because some of us here in Kuala Lumpur are still affected by the water-rationing exercise.  Bummer!

But, on the bright side, the air is clear in the city, throughout the country as well. No haze. A wonderful day for the outdoors today. Kite-flying anyone? Maybe for now let's just do a kite quiz instead.

Happy Friday, everyone!



You Are Colorful

You have always stood out from the crowd, and you don't mind being the center of attention. You are confident.

You have a distinct personality, and you don't hide it to blend it. You are full of life and fascinating.


You are well-rounded and a complete generalist. The whole world interests you, and you are more curious than most people.

You have an upbeat and optimistic attitude. You have a knack for turning any dull event into a party.



Last week's Quiz: What's Your Personality Faction?

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Book on Flight MH370

A book closer home..


It's been just over a month since Flight MH370 mysteriously vanished with 239 people on board, on March 8, less than an hour en route to Beijing from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), but a book has already been written on the mystery of Flight MH370.

The book, listed on the UK Book Depository website, as Flight MH370, The Truth is written by fiction writer and journalist Nigel Cawthorne. It's in paperback form with 288 pages and slated for release on May 15. The book was spotted at the current London Book Fair and news of it is making its rounds on social networks.

Source: TheRakyatPost


The latest update is that the hunt for more black box "pings" from missing Malaysian airliner MH370 was narrowing Thursday to a specific patch of remote ocean after two more signals were detected.

The head of the Australian-led search, Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), Angus Houston raised hopes Wednesday that wreckage will be found within days even as the black box batteries start to expire.

Experts believe the signals to be consistent with the specification and description of a flight data recorder.

A large number of objects were spotted on the surface on Wednesday, JACC said, "but only a small number were able to be recovered. "None of the recovered items were believed to be associated with MH370."

"I don't think that time is very far away," he said.

Up to 10 military aircraft, four civil planes and 13 ships would take part in the search on Thursday, JACC said.

Houston: "I believe we are searching in the right area but we need to visually identify the aircraft before we can confirm with certainty that this is the final resting place of MH370."

Houston, however, again urged caution for the sake of the families of those aboard the flight, which mysteriously vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board, and said the search for more signals would go on.

Read more on The Star: MH370 search: Hunt for black box zeroes in on final resting place


From The Star, Some questions on the missing aircraft answered by experts:

Q: Are the ‘pings’ from MH370?

That remains to be determined, but Australia’s search chief said one of the country’s naval ships had twice detected signals “consistent” with aircraft black boxes, the strongest indication yet that the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was on the right trail.

Q: If they are from MH370, what happens next?

If the pings are confirmed, authorities would deploy a submersible device to scan the seabed for debris. If found, the difficult task of reaching and recovering the black box in ocean depths ranging from 4,000m-5,000m would begin.

Seafloor-mapping and recovery is “a very intense and time-consuming process”, said Anthony Brickhouse, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the United States.

But lessons were learnt during the two-year search for the data recorders from the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447, which contributed greatly to today’s body of knowledge, he said.

Q: If the pings are not from MH370, might the plane never be found?

If the pings are confirmed not to be from MH370, the search is back to square one, raising the daunting spectre of an open-ended surface search for floating debris or painstaking seafloor-mapping. But Air France showed that success is still possible.

Q: Did MH370 become a ‘ghost plane’?

This idea gained traction after Malaysia announced on March 15 – a week after MH370’s disappearance – that the plane apparently flew for nearly seven hours after vanishing from radar.

“Ghost planes” – in which the crew is incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on aimlessly – have occurred before.

In 2005, a Greek Helios Airways plane with 121 aboard flew for hours after a sudden lack of oxygen incapacitated the cockpit crew.

It crashed, killing all aboard.

Some believe MH370’s pilots diverted the plane due to such an event – possibly attempting to return to Kuala Lumpur airport – but were subsequently incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on autopilot.

The shutting off of communications systems may have been an attempt to stem a fire cause by faulty electrical circuits.

Q: What aviation changes might arise from MH370?

The aviation industry has a history of learning from disasters and implementing safeguards, making air travel one of the world’s safest modes of transport.

However, unless MH370’s black box or some wreckage can be recovered, that learning process cannot begin.

But MH370 has already sparked new discussion of implementing real-time satellite tracking of airliners to stop them going missing, and possibly reassessing the pilot’s ability to turn off communications systems. — AFP


This case of the missing jet has baffled aviation experts and frustrated the families of those on board, two-thirds of whom were Chinese. Whatever the outcome, families of passengers just want to know what actually happened and see evidence of whatever conclusion. Let's hope it will be soon..


Related articles:
Missing MH370 - Two objects found in Indian Ocean
Missing MH370 - Two weeks and a day
Flight MH370 confirmed lost - in the Indian Ocean

Friday, April 4, 2014

Friday Frolics - What's Your Personality Faction?

Time flies, doesn't it? It's Friday Frolics time again. Take the quiz to know a little bit more about yourself and maybe surprise yourself?

Happy Friday, everyone!



Your Personality Faction is Amity

You are a peace-loving, compromising person. You believe that there is no need for so much fighting.

You connect with others based on similar goals, ideas, and life experience. We all have more in common than we know.



You see a potential friend in everyone you meet. And you don't think differences can get in the way of true friendship.

You radiate acceptance and understanding. You believe that disagreements can be worked out.


Last week's Personality Quiz - The Five Factor Values Test