Category: General

April has been a very intense month. Everything at work has turned againts you, and the world is falling apart.

I injured my hand since a few weeks ago, and had only went to the doctor today. Don’t know what causes this, but I bet it’s because of carrying the heavy office desks to the storage unit. Something I didn’t expect when I signed the contract 2 years ago.

Oh well…

Oh sh*t! Thinking that I have to touch computer mice everyday at the office everyday… urgh… need to buy hand disinfectant when I go out this weekend.

Computer mouses found in cyber cafes have been ranked as the second most bacteria-infested items in a list of commonly touched objects.

The survey, carried out by the Korea Consumer Protection Board, found shopping cart handles to be the worst of the worst. Typically, they contain an average of 1100 colony forming units (CFU) of bacteria per 10 sq cm.

The computer mouses, were found to have an average of 690 CFU – more than twice the concentration found on doorknobs and handles in public toilets.

The detected bugs include all kinds of bacteria including pathogenic ones.

The Korea Consumer Protection Board released the report this week after conducting an examination about bacteria contamination on 120 items at public facilities which people commonly touch with their hands in Seoul and nearby cities.

According to the Korea Times newspaper, the board examined 20 hand straps on trains, 20 hand straps on buses, 20 toilet doorknobs at four department stores, 20 lift buttons at four department stores, 20 handles of shopping carts at four discount stores, and 20 mouses at four internet cafes.

A board spokeswoman said that the best way to stop the spread of infectious diseases by hand contact was to wash your hands with soap.

Quoting statistics, the spokeswoman said that while more than 77 per cent of people were aware of the importance of washing hands, only 47.9 per cent actually bothered to wash them.

Original news here: http://www.theage.com.au/news/breaking/ewww-dont-touch-that-mouse/2006/02/15/1139890812017.html

I found Dilbert’s blog. Here’s one entry entitled Wisdom for Grads:

Ive been asked to compile some Dilbert advice for new graduates who have no idea whats awaiting them in the business world. Im talking about practical advice. Here are some of the ones that come to mind.

The person who sits nearest the bosss office gets the most assignments.

Your potential for senior management will be determined by the three Hs: Hair, Height, and Harvard degree. You need at least two out of three. (Non-Harvard schools will be acceptable if its clear that you “could have gone” to Harvard.)

Your hard work will be rewarded. Specifically, your bosss boss will reward your boss for making you work so hard.

Theres no such thing as good ideas and bad ideas. There are only your own ideas and other peoples. If you want someone to like your idea, tell him he said it last week and you just remembered.

Teamwork is what you call it when you trick other people into ignoring their priorities in favor of yours.

Leadership is a form of evil. No one needs to lead you to do something that is obviously good for you.

You can estimate the time for any project by multiplying the number of idiots involved by one week and adding the number of capable co-workers times four weeks. (The competent ones are busier.)

In any group of three coworkers, at least one of them will be a sadistic loser intent on grabbing your ankle as he circles the drain.

Non-monetary incentives are every bit as valuable as they sound.

Business success is mostly about waiting for something lucky to happen and then taking credit.

Preparing a Powerpoint presentation will give you the sweet, sweet illusion of productivity.

It is better to be an “expert” than it is to do actual work.

The first month on any new job should be spent talking smack about the “idiot who had the job before you.”

Do you have any advice youd like to add? (It might end up in a book.)

Oh no… don’t tell me JE is back? If you guys can remember, in 1992 Malaysia had trouble with JE widespread. From The Star Online today:

Officials baffled by deaths in Tanah Merah

By IAN MCINTYRE

KOTA BARU: Health authorities were scrambling to determine the cause of the acute neurological syndrome (DIL) which has killed two people in the Tanah Merah district.

They have screened 3,925 residents in the district so far, said state Health Department director Datuk Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Maher.

He said DIL could be linked to the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus. Initial signs of DIL were fever and vomiting which could later develop into breathing difficulties.

Hasnira Akmar Hussin, 13, who had been warded for DIL, died at 9.15pm yesterday – the second to die from the syndrome.

She had been in a semi-coma (a mild comatose state) since being admitted to the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital here for severe vomiting on Thursday.

Her father Hussin Mustafa, 49, who is self-employed, confirmed her death.

“Her body is to be sent for a post-mortem and we are making funeral arrangements for tomorrow afternoon,” he said at the hospital last night.

Hasnira was among four people suspected of contracting JE brought on by the deadly culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquito.

Blood samples of the four have been sent to the Institute of Medical Research for tests.

Mohd Romli Mohd Zaid, 49, and his daughter, who was not identified, were hospitalised on Monday after complaining of fever and headache. Just four days earlier, Romlis 13-year-old daughter Siti Mardiana died from DIL complications.

Health authorities have yet to confirm what caused the teenager to die.

Tanah Merah MP Shaari Hassan, who visited the patients at the hospital, said there was still no confirmation if all the four had contracted JE.

Shaari urged families in his parliamentary constituency to cooperate with the authorities.

Original news here:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/2/1/nation/13272080&sec=nation

However it’s too early to tell, don’t get paranoid. Just wait for announcement from the goverment.

Lately I have been monitoring traffic coming in to this site, particularly the referers. I’m surprised to see how many people reach this site by searching (in Google or Yahoo!) for the word sex, and phrases like aksi ranjang, seks malaysia, rogol, bogel, etc.

Although I do welcome traffic and people coming to this site, this finding is quite sad for me. Traffic is good for me, but how visitors come in here is quite unpleasant. But of course, I shouldn’t complain, should I?

Oh well I guess I just have to make peace with the fact that there’s a lot of sex maniacs out there. Beware!!

This photo was taken en-route to work (after lunch) on 26 January 2006 by Azidin. I was driving at that time so we were quite far away from the lorry. I was afraid that the bloody thing will fall on my car if I get too close. I tried to honk the guy and let him know that one of his gas tank is about to fall but he didn’t notice me.

I’ve heard about Stormpay for quite a while, but have never interested in taking a peek at it as I thought that it is just another pyramid scheme or fraudulent money making site.

Two days ago a friend forwarded me a link to stormpay, and as I was irritated with the spam technique I just registered. Today, I have earned USD0.30 from the StormClix function. Basically you click on advertisers’ links to get paid. I know, it’s kind of pathetic but with USD0.30 I can at least buy a copy of newspaper in Malaysia 😉

As it turns out, Stormpay is a legal company, and a good payment processor. If you happen to be running a business, Stormpay can be used to receive payments, especially with the growing number of members. It didn’t hurt a bit.

Those who are interested, please click here: http://www.stormpay.com/. Yes, this is a referral link, and there’s a concept of downlines. This is quite a good opportunity, and you don’t have to pay anything.

One additional thing that’s good about StormPay is that it is certified by NetIBA, an authority on the Internet. If you’re certified, you’ll also have some advantages. I am planning to be certified soon 🙂

This friendly little guy was knocking at the glass window next to my desk the other day. I managed to take a photo:

I don’t know what species it is from 😉

Continue reading Visitor

Not really my favorite song, but the meaning’s deep and I have been listening to this song since I was a kid… Many artists took this song, the one I occasionally listen to is performed by Ugly Kid Joe

Cats In The Cradle

My child arrived just the other day
Came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
He was talking before I knew It
And as he grew
He said, “I’m gonna be like you, Dad you know I’m gonna be like you”

And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son I don’t know when, We’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then.

My son turned ten just the other day
He said “thanks for the ball dad, come on lets play can you teach me to throw?”
I said “Not today, I’ve got alot to do”
He said “Thats okay”
He walked away and he smiled and he said
“you know I’m gonna be like you, dad you know I’m gonna be like you….”

And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son I don’t know when, We’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then.

He came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head, and he said with a smile
“What I’m feeling like dad, is to borrow the car keys. See you later, can I have them please?”

And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son I don’t know when, We’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then.

I’ve long since retired, my son has moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said “I’d like to see you if you dont mind”
He said “I’d love to dad If I could find the time.
You see my new jobs a hassle, and the kids have the flu.
But it’s sure nice talking to you, dad, it’s been sure nice talking to you……..”
And as he hung up the phone It had occured to me
He’d grown up just like me, my boy, was just like me…………..

And the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son I don’t know when, We’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then.

This is what my front left tire looked like. The damaged area is the inner part. Luckily we went into a very big pothole on the way from Shah Alam yesterday, and it made me worry so much and took a trip to the workshop.

I’d recommend the workshop (I think the name is Maystorm, in Putra Permai near the Police Station) as the people there are friendly. Plus, they did a very good job on my car alignment 🙂

There goes RM300.00++, but after all it is for safety. Next, changes are also required for the rear tires…

Last Friday a company called BI Marketing called my home number twice, asking for the address for them to send free magazine. I told them I am not interested.

Today, I received another phone call at the office – from the same people asking my address for them to send free health and car magazine. I am trying to find out where the hell did they get my numbers. If anyone else get the same calls, do let me know.

Weirdly enough they don’t have my mobile number. This is a privacy violation!!! The next time they call I am going to make a police report. Somebody is selling our private information.