Brand's Life

Geeky Bids

2011-12-06T17:19:00.004+08:00

Come across Geeky Bids ad from a file hosting website, click on the ad by sheer curiosity. It's actually an auction website with every item bidding from RM0.00, every bidding session increase RM0.01 cent. You'll be given 10 free bids once you sign up an account. Here how it works.

All auctions start at RM0.00.
You then place a bid.
Each bid you place will increase the current price by RM0.01.
The countdown timer resets everytime a new bid is placed.
If the countdown timer reaches 00:00:00 and no new bids are placed, then the last bidder wins the right to buy the product at the final auction price.
Winner gets back 100% of his/her bids as well.

A short video for better understanding.

Do you guys think this website is genuine? Check it out yourself, never try, never know.

Truck Painters

2011-08-25T23:43:00.004+08:00

Received an email from a buddy few days ago, it's about truck painters. It's so creative! Below are the contents in the email to share with you guys.

Below are 7 pictures of European trucks whose trailers are decorated to look like the sides are missing and the products they are hauling are painted on the sides and back.

The first one is of a bottle of beer and looks so real, like it is coming out the side of the trailer.

The second is of a canvas tote bag.

The third is of Pepsi cases and they are all stacked on the ceiling, and the bottom of the trailer is empty.

The fourth is of another truck with the windshield facing the back, a driver painted in the driver's seat looking back over his shoulder to appear like he is driving backwards. (Now this one is just plain scary, even when the German reads 'On the wrong way?').

The fifth one is of an aquarium with fish swimming in it.

The sixth one is of a bookshelf with books lined up in it and a post-it-note with an advertisement on it, probably for the company that sells the books.

The last one is for Pringles-Hot & Spicy. The 'inside' of the trailer has the appearance of having been through a fire.

Problem solved!

2011-08-25T23:33:00.002+08:00

Met a client yesterday to deal on the Honda CR-V DVD player. After he got everything installed on his car, he called me said that having few problems on the player, I was worried how to solve the problem for him and decided to meet him today morning to check out the problems that he mentioned. Luckily the client is nice even the player has some problems.

Woke up early today to meet up with the client and check out the problems that he mentioned. He mentioned the GPS can't get signal, was keep on figure out for him and he drove me around to test but still unable to get the signal. I was suddenly think of will it because of wrong file selected, once selected the other file, it got the signal! We were so happy!

After the GPS signal problem solved, comes to steering control problem, he unable to get the steering control sync with the player because the player interface locked with a passcode. Was keep on calling supplier and manufacturer to get the passcode, at last got the passcord and set the steering control with him, finally done! We were so happy again!

So, it's just consider technical problem, not the problem cause by the player.

Through out the whole process, I gained much more experience about the problems that may face by client. It's really a good experience for me. God blessed!

Apple Officially World's Largest Smartphone Maker — Guess by How Much

2011-08-06T13:25:00.002+08:00

It wasn't enough to surpass the U.S. government with a whopping $76 billion in cash reserves, now Apple's been declared the world's largest smartphone manufacturer as well. It must have something to do with that mobile phone they make. What's it called again? The i-Something?

Yep, that. And according to Strategy Analytics, it pushed Apple past both Nokia and Samsung in the second quarter of 2011 to establish Cupertino as the world's topmost smartphone maker in volume shipments. And depending who we're comparing the company to, Apple's either ahead by a huge margin, or just barely.

Worldwide smartphone shipments grew across the board for the second quarter of 2011, up 76% to a record 110 million units total, according to Strategy Analytics senior analyst Alex Spektor. While Nokia dropped from 23.8% to 16.7% in shipments for the second quarter, year-on-year, Apple's leapt to 20.3% during the same period. Samsung clocked in second at 19.2%, a single slender percentage point behind Apple, and actually beat Cupertino for year-on-year shipment growth, rising 16.1% (from 3.1%) compared with Apple's 11.9% (from 8.4%) for the same period, year-on-year.

"Now, just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world's largest smartphone vendor by volume with 18 percent market share," said Spektor, adding "Apple's growth remained strong as it expanded distribution worldwide, particularly in China and Asia.”
Those ratios apply to global marketshare, too. While Nokia more than halved its second quarter position, dropping from 38.1% to third place with 15.2% of the market year-on-year, Samsung rose from 5% to second place with 17.5% and Apple jumped ahead from 13.5% to first place with 18.5% for the same period. Again, Samsung's marketshare growth performance actually beat Apple's.

Added Strategy Analytics director Neil Mawson, "Samsung overtook Nokia to become the world's second largest smartphone vendor in Q2 2011...[growing] a huge 520 percent annually." Mawson points to the success of Samsung's Galaxy lineup, "especially the high-tier S2 Android model."

And Tom Kang, another director at Strategy Analytics, explains Nokia's slump by pointing out that while the company was first to ship 100 million smartphones in a single year (in 2010), "the industry awaits Nokia's pending transition to Windows Phone 7."

Source: TechLand

Report: The iPhone 5 Might Actually Arrive in October

2011-08-06T13:25:00.001+08:00

If you've been holding out on buying an iPhone in anticipation of the iPhone 5, be prepared to wait a bit longer.

All Things Digital reports that all previous rumors about a September iPhone 5 release are wrong, and that Apple's newfangled contraption will actually arrive in October. Where does this information come from? Why, more anonymous sources, of course!

The report specifically takes issue with a rumor that AT&T has blacked out employee vacations for the last two weeks of September, suggesting that the iPhone 5 will launch during that time. "I don't know why AT&T's calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it's not for an iPhone launch," one unnamed source told All Things Digital. Other unnamed sources said the iPhone 5 will be released in late October, rather than the early half of the month.

In case you're (not) keeping score, we now have rumors of an iPhone 5 launch in August, September and October. It's tempting to think that November launch rumors could be next, although I doubt Apple would want to let the holiday shopping season begin without its latest iPhone in stores.

Besides, the October launch rumor isn't appearing from out of nowhere; the blog MacOtakara reported in March that Apple wouldn't begin production on the next iPhone until the end of its 2011 fiscal year (September), and AT&T has already confirmed that it'll start throttling unlimited data users, possibly in preparation for a wave of new iPhone 5 owners.

So what's the holdup? I'm guessing Apple's in no rush as it squeezes plenty of sales out of its current generation hardware. Although analysts had expected iPhone 4 sales to decline last quarter, sales were actually up 9% over the previous quarter, making Apple the world's biggest handset maker. You might be waiting for the iPhone 5 until October, but a healthy chunk of the market isn't so patient.

Source: TechLand

Skype for iPad Appears, Vanishes, Reappears

2011-08-06T13:17:00.000+08:00

Skype for iPad briefly surfaced on Apple's App Store this morning, promising to unlock net-based voice and video calling for tablet aficionados, but the app mysteriously disappeared just as quickly. In its wake: a puzzling "temporarily removed" note.

A quick scan of the company website and official Twitter feed solves the mystery: removed by the hand that feeds, it seems.

"To ensure your best Skype experience, we've temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today," wrote the company on Twitter early this morning, adding: "We know you've been eagerly awaiting Skype for iPad and apologize for the inconvenience."

It's not clear at this point what prevented the version uploaded by the company from ensuring the "best Skype experience," or when it plans to roll the app back out. [UPDATE: And just like that, it's back—users are reporting Skype's re-upped the app, and that it's now working.]

User reaction to Skype's "here today, gone today" tablet app was palpable.

"Tried installing #skype for iPad and got error that app isn't available. Anyone else experience that?" tweeted one user.

"[Funny], #skype yanked the iPad app for "being released prematurely"...shouldn't that have been done with every iPhone version they made?" tweeted another.

[UPDATE: "[Sweet], #Skype for ipad has been re-released on the app store. [No] more using the mini sized iphone app!!" tweeted a third after the app was reportedly re-upped."]

Skype for iPad boasts two-way video calling for iPad 2 over Wi-Fi or 3G, though original iPad owners can only receive video, and to do video at all, you'll need iOS 4.0 or later.

Source: TechLand

Here's where Facebook beats Google

2011-08-06T13:13:00.000+08:00

LOOK CLOSER: Web users who type in "faceboook.com" are greeted with a Facebook-like website that tries to scam them. - Relaxnews 2011

SAN FRANCISCO: "Facebook.com" is by far the most common URL that people type into the address bar of their web browser.

People are typing "facebook.com" almost three times more often than "google.com."

The URL statistics were published on July 25 by Christopher Finke, a software engineer and the creator of URL Fixer, a browser add-on that fixes human errors that are typed in the address bar on your browser.

Facebook.com is the most popular domain and accounts for 9% of all typed domains. Google.com is the second most typed address and accounts for 3.3% of all typed domains.

Youtube.com, gmail.com, twitter.com, mail.google.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, amazon.com and reddit.com also feature in the Top 10 most typed domains, said Finke.

According to website traffic monitoring company Alexa, the Top 10 sites on the Web by the amount of traffic they receive are, in order: Google, Facebook, Youtube, Yahoo!, Live, Baidu, Wikipedia, Blogger, MSN and Tencent.

Finke noted in the comments on his blog that while "All of Facebook's properties (*.facebook.com) combine [to make up] 9.4% [of all typed domains]; all of Google's (*.google.com, YouTube, Blogspot, etc.) combine for at least 9.7%."

"The only locales where neither Google nor Facebook control the most popular domain are ru-RU (Russia - vkontakte.ru), fi-FI (Finland - aapeli.com, a gaming website), ko-KR (South Korea - fomos.kr, an e-sports website), and zh-CN (China - baidu.com)," Finke said.

Not surprisingly, people often make mistakes when entering addresses into their URL bar and end up with all kinds of typos. Frequent variations on the top level domain ".com" include .com\, .ocm, .con, .cmo, .copm, .xom, ".com,", .vom, .comn, .com', ".co,", .comj, .coim, .cpm, .colm, .conm, and .coom.

"The website that appears to benefit the most from users mistyping a legitimate URL is faceboook.com (count the o's)," said Finke.

Scammers have taken advantage of the common typing error (which is typed once for every 7,930 times that facebook.com is correctly typed), setting up a website that makes visitors think they have been chosen as a "Facebook Winner." - Relaxnews 2011

Source: TechCentral

Google Can Detect if Your Computer Is Infected and Help You Fix It

2011-08-06T12:56:00.000+08:00

Malware! Huah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing—unless you're trying to profit by infecting people's computers with malware, in which case you're acting jerk-ily. Good news/bad news, though: Google can now detect certain types on malware on your computer and help you fix it.

It's good news for people who want to know when their computers have been infected, and bad news for people who think Google already knows too much about them. Whatever your disposition, here's how it works.

Certain strains of malware hijack your internet connection and re-route your destination to sites trying to sell you stuff or further infect your computer. If you've ever opened your web browser and been taken to a page other than the page you've designated as your home page, that's malware, baby.

The thing is, Google can actually detect certain types of malware based on the traffic that's being sent through its servers. Google recently discovered a particular strain of malware and, in a company blog post, said:

"This particular malware causes infected computers to send traffic to Google through a small number of intermediary servers called 'proxies.' We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections."

So if you're surfing the web on your computer and your traffic is being re-routed through one of these proxy servers, Google will be able to alert you once you eventually make your way to one of Google's sites. Once you find yourself at one of Google's sites, you'll see this notification:

The downside here is that the notification looks kind of like a fake notification meant to trick you into clicking on a link in the first place, so people who have learned to ignore "Your computer appears to be infected" messages may dismiss it altogether. Also, malware developers could theoretically make it so that every time you try to go to a Google site, you're rerouted elsewhere. But then you'd really know something was up, huh?

Source: TechLand

'Anti-Jailbreak' iOS 4.3.4 Already Jailbroken?

2011-08-06T12:44:00.002+08:00

The whole point of Apple's iOS 4.3.4 update was to put the kibosh on a serious iOS security defect that allowed hackers to jailbreak iPhones, iPads and iPod touches (as well as surreptitiously remote control them), but it seems the fix may have already yielded to hackers.

Hack group 'iPhone Dev Team' (not to be confused with Apple's actual iPhone development team) claims it already has a jailbreak for iPhones and iPod touches running iOS 4.3.4.

"For the convenience of kernel hackers…we have a new redsn0w 0.9.8b3 that supports a TETHERED jailbreak for iOS 4.3.4 on all devices that have 4.3.4 except the iPad2," wrote the team in an update to an iOS5 beta jailbreak post. The group added that most people would want to stick with iOS 4.3.3, claiming "there are no new features in 4.3.4 — only fixes for jailbreak exploits."

Don't get too excited, iOS hack fans. A tethered jailbreak requires you leave your iOS device physically connected to your computer each time the iOS device is rebooted to maintain the hack. If your iPhone hangs in the field, as it's arguably more inclined to running hacked software, you're out of luck until you re-sync with your computer using a physical cable.

Apple did the right thing, of course, getting an update out to patch the iOS security flaw (and reportedly break other jailbreak holes), but it's pushing a boulder uphill in terms of securing long term hardware lockdowns. The company lost a crucial legal battle over jailbreaking last summer, after it attempted to spin jailbreaking as illegal. A court ruled it wasn't, and essentially established jailbreaking as an exception to the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Apple's response to the ruling? That jailbreaking "can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

Will iPhone Dev Team bother with a cordless iOS 4.3.4 jailbreak? Who knows, but if all Apple really did was fiddle a few jailbreak holes, perhaps the hack team's keeping its powder dry for iOS 4.3.5.

Source: TechLand

Stadt German Cuisine & Bistro @ Bandar Puteri Puchong

2011-08-05T22:42:00.004+08:00

Stadt German Cuisine & Bistro - The authentic original recipe of German grilled steak, seafood, sausage, and the captivating taste of crispy pork knuckle immediately come to mind. There have dim environment and with music. This restaurant definitely non-halal.

Butter Sauce Cod Fish

Combo Mix Sausage

German Salad

German Pork Knuckle

Fish & Chips

Seafood Pasta

Unable to try out all the cuisines there, you may pay a visit to try out yourself.

Stadt German Cuisine & Bistro
No. 50 & 50-1, Jalan Puteri 1/4,
Bandar Puteri, 47100 Puchong,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.
Coordinates : 3.0274,101.617119
Tel: 03-8063 5380 Fax: 03-8063 5390
Email: enquiry@stadt.com.my, feedback@stadt.com.my

Website: www.stadt.com.my

DinTaiFung 鼎泰豐 @ Empire Subang

2011-08-05T21:51:00.004+08:00

DinTaiFung - A restaurant originally from Taiwan but currently it expanded to 10 countries included Malaysia. Currently only have two branches in Malaysia which are Empire Shopping Gallery and Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

The interior at Empire Subang I feel very narrow. Personally I feel that their food not really delicious, it just normal, I think it already commercialize, the price doesn't cheap as well. Anyway, you may pay a visit to try out yourself.

Empire Subang branch
G-15, Ground Floor, Empire Shopping Gallery,
Jalan SS16/1, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: +603.5022.2522

Pavilion Kuala Lumpur branch
Lot 06.01.05, Level 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur168,
Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100,
Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
Tel: +603.2148.8292

Website: www.dintaifung.com.tw

Cabinet rejects Astro’s rate hike pending MCMC consent

2011-07-04T17:14:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet has decided against allowing Astro to raise its rates until the company gets clearance from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said.

The Information, Communication and Culture Minister said the matter was discussed at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting and members felt it was not appropriate for Astro to raise its rates at this time.

“I agreed that Astro’s rates could only be hiked with MCMC’s approval and that any increase must be reasonable and conform to the law,” he said after chairing his ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting at Angkasapuri here yesterday.

He said Astro had violated MCMC’s regulations by issuing notices on its rate hike to customers without the commission’s clearance.

“As such, I have asked MCMC to take appropriate action and instruct Astro to not continue with the rate hike until a time deemed more suitable.”

Explaining what he meant by “appropriate action”, Dr Rais said this was up to MCMC to determine and that Astro could be fined as allowed under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

Astro recently announced it would be streamlining the packages it was offering, which would take effect on July 11.

According to Astro, following the streamlining exercise, customers could save between RM4 and RM14.95 or pay nominal increases of between RM1 and RM15, depending on the packages chosen.

An Astro spokesman said it viewed the minister’s statement with concern as the price revision was conducted in consultation with MCMC and in accordance with the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and licence conditions. — Bernama

Source: The Star Online

Sony Ericsson goes Android with new phones

2011-07-03T01:36:00.001+08:00

NEW ANDROIDS: Models showcasing the newly-launched Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray phone in Singapore. Sony Ericsson has unveiled two new Android models in a bid to grab more of the burgeoning smartphone market. - AP

SINGAPORE: Mobile-phone maker Sony Ericsson unveiled two new Android models in a bid to grab more of the burgeoning smartphone market.

The company, a joint venture between L.M. Ericsson and Sony Corp, plans to launch the Xperia ray and Xperia active models during the third quarter, its chief marketing officer Steve Walker announced.

The new models should help the company expand its 11% market share of the Android segment, Walker said.

"Android smartphones is a rapidly growing part of the market, and we see our share within that market growing," Walker told The Associated Press.

London-based Sony Ericsson, which saw its phone unit sales drop 23% in the first quarter from a year earlier, is moving away from cheaper phone models and seeking to take on Apple Inc's iPhone, Research in Motion's Blackberry and Nokia Corp's N9 in the higher-priced smartphone segment.

By 2015, about 60% of mobile phones sold in the Asia-Pacific region will likely be smartphones, up from 20% in 2010, Walker said.

"We made quite a fundamental shift in strategy and decided to focus a large part of our effort into smartphones, to focus on the mid- and high-end part of the business," he said. "In many markets, we see a dramatic shift from feature phones to smartphones."

The company said in April that smartphones accounted for more than 60% of its sales during the first quarter.

Sony Ericsson's latest models that run on Goggle Inc's Android platform, the Xperia ray and active, will likely be priced below the high-end Xperia arc, Walker said.

Xperia active is water resistant and works if fingers are wet or sweaty, while the Xperia ray seeks to combine a sleek design with a device that is 9.4mm thick.

Sony Ericsson also plans to introduce a less expensive model that highlights the texting service and is aimed at teenagers, Walker said. - AP

Source: TechCentral

New Android phone is sweat-resistant

2011-07-03T01:31:00.000+08:00

The Xperia Active, Sony Ericsson's recently announced smartphone, is built to withstand the elements

Sony Ericsson's new smartphone was made for two kinds of people: sporty jogger types and those who sweat profusely.

Dubbed the Xperia Active, Sony Ericsson's recently announced smartphone is built to withstand the elements. It's dust proof, water-resistant and even incorporates "wet finger tracking" (which, admittedly, sounds somewhat gross).

The Active probably won't withstand a dip in the lap pool (or an accidental drop in the toilet). It's aimed more at those who want to browse the web while on the treadmill, or perhaps check out their Runkeeper stats while taking on their latest triathlon.

One word of advice, though: last time we checked, it's still not kosher to talk on your phone at the gym.

Along with the Active, Sony Ericsson also unveiled the Xperia Ray, a fairly bland, run-of-the-mill Android smartphone. It comes with a 1-GHz processor, 3.3-inch screen and 8.1-megapixel back-facing camera.

Sony Ericsson unveiled the devices at the CommunicAsia tech conference in Singapore on Wednesday.

Over the past few years, hardware manufacturers have been pushing out new Android smartphones to the public at a breakneck pace. The problem, however, is that most of the phones have similar hardware specifications, with little else for consumers to differentiate between each device.

Handset makers have tried adding on different layers of software (or "skinning") over the stock version of Android in order to give a different look and customized feel to its phone. But not all custom skins have proved popular with smartphone enthusiasts, and some prefer a bare-bones approach to the operating system.

Sony Ericsson has taken a different path by releasing novel hardware designs with minimal software modification. The company's recent release of the Xperia Play (or "PlayStation phone") included a built-in, slide-out PlayStation controller interface, the first of its kind seen on a smartphone.

The release of the Xperia Active is in the same vein as the Play -- curveball additions to the company's smartphone line-up which aim to break from the indistinguishable crowd of available devices.

The two phones are expected to be available this fall.

Source: CNN

Rumor: New MacBook Airs in July, iPhone 6 in 2012, 15m iPhone 5s in First Batch

2011-07-03T01:26:00.000+08:00

I'm ready for my upgrade, by which I mean from a well-worn early 2010 13-inch MacBook Pro to a shiny new Thunderbolt-equipped 11.6-inch MacBook Air—if Apple does right by me spec-wise with its imminent MacBook Air refresh, anyway. The latest rumors (per DigiTimes) don't tell us much about what to expect from Cupertino's ultraportable not-a-netbook (but really, yes Apple, a netbook) product update, save that it's due to happen in July.

But wait, didn't we already report as much nearly two weeks ago?

Sort of. We talked Apple's putative mass order for 380,000 new units, about the new 32 nanometer ultra-low-voltage Core i5 and Core i7 processors and the memory maximum bump from 4GB to 8GB. And last Friday, we heard Apple was actually delaying the new MacBook Airs so they'd come out at the same time as OS X Lion—Apple's eighth major Mac OS X release, due in July exclusively through Apple's Mac App Store, though Apple has yet to say when in July specifically.

What we hadn't heard, is that Apple's third-generation mobile processor, the A6, should show up in Apple's iPhone 6 and iPad 3 at some point in 2012 (the iPhone 5, rumored to arrive in September, will reportedly use the iPad 2's existing A5). Credit to DigiTimes for this one, too. What do we know about the A6 processor? Nothing a little baseless (but educated) speculation won't fix. You know, like that it'll be faster.

And last but not least, looks for as many as 15 million iPhone 5s when Apple launches their fifth-generation iPhone this fall, reports DigiTimes. Manufacturer Pegatron Technology says it expects to reach that number (and share fulfillment responsibilities) with Foxconn Electronics in the first round of orders alone.

Source: Techland

VoIP service launches group video chat app for iPad

2011-07-03T01:15:00.000+08:00

GROUP VIDEO CHAT: A screenshot of the fring: Video Calls + IM iPad app.

Popular cross-platform Internet voice and instant messaging service fring is the first to the App Store with a group video chat application designed for Apple's iPad 2.

The free application lets users chat using the iPad's 3G network connection (a feature that Apple's own FaceTime video calling service does not currently support) and enables users to make video calls with up to three other people.

iPad users can make free video calls to fring friends with Android, Nokia, iPhone or iPod touch devices. "fring is empowering Tablet users to unleash the power of their 9.7in screens beyond movie watching and gaming to rich, fun personal video communication," said Avi Shechter, CEO and co-founder of fring.

"With Group Video on the iPad, we are changing face to face video chat. Users will now be able to video socialise on big screen tablets enjoying seeing their friends wherever they are - as they commute, sunbathe at the beach or wait for coffee at a café."

Skype, a VoIP service soon to be acquired by Microsoft, is reportedly due to release a video chat application for the iPad in the coming week.

The Fring iPad app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

Source: TechCentral

Happy Birthday, iPhone

2011-07-03T01:06:00.000+08:00

Here's a reminder of how quickly the tech industry moves: Apple's iPhone turns four years old today.

On June 29, 2007, Apple launched the first-generation iPhone. Despite its $500 price tag and measly 4 GB of storage, Apple fanatics diligently camped out at Apple Stores around the country, hoping to be the first to own one of these aluminum-clad smartphones. (Two months later, these same fans would be dismayed to see a $100 price cut and expansion to 8 GB for the basic model. Apple offered $100 gift cards as consolation.)

The iPhone sparked a revolution in the cell phone industry. Flat, touch-screen slabs are now the standard for smartphones. And the iPhone App Store, which launched in 2008, transformed smartphone software from an extra feature to the main focus of any mobile platform. These days, a smartphone with no apps has no chance to survive.

Indeed, the old guard of smartphones has struggled in the iPhone era. Research in Motion hasn't been able to create a state-of-the-art smartphone in its BlackBerry line, and the company seems to be in a free-fall. Microsoft had to throw out its Windows Mobile operating system and start afresh with Windows Phone 7. Ditto for Palm, which created WebOS in response to the iPhone but failed to get any traction with its Pre smartphones, and has since been acquired by HP. All of this stems from the iPhone and the subsequent rise of Android, with both platforms now dominating the market.

For that matter, it's hard to believe that Apple and Google were pals when the original iPhone launched. Google search was, and still is, the iPhone's default search engine, and YouTube is built directly into the phone. With Android, Google's relationship with Apple soured, and now the companies are considered to be rivals.

Despite all these changes, the iPhone is still a baby when compared to desktop operating systems like Windows and Mac OS, but the iOS software has already made its way to the iPad and Apple TV, and the iPhone itself shows no signs of slowing down.

Four years on, the iPhone has proven to be Apple's future.

Source: Techland

Angry Birds Hits Windows Phone!

2011-07-03T01:02:00.000+08:00

You heard that right, folks. The must-have app for every smartphone platform, Angry Birds, is finally available for Windows Phone 7.

Not only is it available, but it hit the Windows Phone Marketplace "a few hours ahead of schedule," according to the Windows Phone Blog.

"Ahead of schedule" being a relative term, of course.

When Microsoft fired up the marketing machine for its new Windows Phone platform last fall, the Angry Birds logo was prominently featured alongside the first batch of apps on the Windows Phone splash page. Rovio, the company behind Angry Birds, took to Twitter, saying that they hadn't committed to making the game for Windows Phone 7 and that, "Microsoft put the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission."

That was back on October 10th, 2010. The game first appeared on the iPhone back in December of 2009. Today is June 29th, 2011.

So the game hit the Windows Phone Marketplace "ahead of schedule" in that it went up a few hours before it was scheduled to become available today.

All that stuff aside, I think the Windows Phone platform has a lot of promise and the more high-profile apps like Angry Birds that get added, the more likely that Windows Phone 7 devices will find their way into the hands of consumers. Now we just need Scrabble, too.

Angry Birds is available in the Windows Phone Marketplace for $3—there's a free trial available as well.

Source: Techland

An app for flight ticket bargain hunters

2011-06-22T13:40:00.000+08:00

SET YOUR BUDGET: The FlightLover Malaysia app allows you to set your budget and have it alert you when ticket prices fall within your budget.

PETALING JAYA: If you are always in the hunt for cheap flight deals, FlightLover Malaysia is a new application for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that provides an easy way to browse flights from all major budget airlines.

The application lets users track the lowest budget airline ticket prices from AirAsia, Firefly, Jetstar, Lion Air, Cebu Pacific and Tiger Airways, over a four month period to over 70 destinations that include cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei.

Ticket prices listed are also inclusive of taxes but the cost for check-in luggage is not included. The app features a simple interface with the main page showing the latest bargains.

Users need to select their destination, set number of days for their trip and book the flight by calling the airlines. At the moment, the application does not offer direct online booking.

BUDGET FLIGHTS: The FlightLover Malaysia app allows you to check flight ticket prices but there is no option for direct booking for now.

Considering that budget airline ticket prices fluctuate on a daily basis, FlightLover provides an easy way to keep track of all the best deals with its daily alerts feature, the app developer Handstand said. Travellers will get a notification from the app whenever the prices to their destination falls within their budget. Users can also share the deals that they find on FlightLover with friends on Facebook, Twitter or via e-mail.

FlightLover Malaysia is available in the App Store now and is currently on sale for a limited time for US$2.99 (RM9). The regular price is US$4.99 (RM15).

Source: TechCentral

Google expands spoken search to desktops

2011-06-22T13:12:00.003+08:00

GETTING BETTER: Ken Liu, senior product manager for Google, talking about new Chrome features at the Google IO Developers Conference in San Francisco in May. Google is introducing a feature that will allow people to speak their search requests in English on its Chrome browser. - AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Google is introducing more technological tricks to simplify Internet searching and give people another reason to surf the Web on its Chrome browser.

The features include an option that will allow people to speak their search requests in English while sitting in front of their office and home computers.

It's something they can already do on smartphones running on Google Inc's Android software.

The new features serve as another reminder that search remains Google's backbone even as the company branches into mobile devices, browsers, computer software, music and even television.

By continually coming up with new ways to simplify search requests, Google hopes to extend its dominance in what so far has been Internet's most lucrative market: Steering people to the information they want as quickly as possible.

Spurring more search requests provides Google with more opportunities to shows the ads that generate most of its revenue.

For now, the spoken-request option for desktop computers will be offered only on the Chrome browser. It will be activated by clicking on a microphone icon inside Google's search box. Chrome users will get the new feature within the next few days.

Google hopes to eventually make all the features available through Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox browsers, both which have wider audiences than Chrome.

Eventually, people will be able to speak requests in other languages, too.

The speech-recognition technology draws upon a database of more than 230 billion words that Google has built while processing spoken requests on phones for the past two and a half years.

Booster shot

Another innovation is designed to load webpages more quickly after users click on the top search result. The "Instant Pages" option, which also requires Chrome, builds upon a nine-month old feature in which search results automatically appear after typing in a few characters into a search box. The results change as more letters are typed in to complete the search query.

Google is hoping its browser gets another boost from a line of laptop computers running on an operating system based on Chrome.

The Chrome laptops from Acer Inc and Samsung Electronics cost US$349 to US$499 (RM1,000 to RM 1,500) and require Internet connections to run most programs because they will have limited storage capacity, not hard drives.

Not all of Google's latest search options will require Chrome. Among them is a new tool that allows users to drag images into Google's search results to get a list of results about what's in the photograph.

For instance, a photo from a family vacation years ago could be dragged into the search box to get information about the location.

This image-recognition technology can identify people, but Google so far has decided not to use it for that purpose. Google executives also said the photos entered into the search box won't be made available to the general public.

Google, which is based in Mountain View, currently processes nearly two out of every three Internet search requests in the United States - an advantage that has held firm for several years.

Microsoft and Yahoo! Inc have invested billions of dollars in search during the past eight years with little to show for it.

After deciding it would be better off funnelling money into other projects, Yahoo! began to rely on Microsoft for most of its search results last year. Microsoft's Bing search engine has been getting more usage during the past two years, but it hasn't been able to reverse the huge losses in Microsoft's online division.

Although Google appears well entrenched as the Internet search leader, it has struggled to counter the threat posed by the success of Facebook.

Its popularity poses a problem for Google because most of its content can't be indexed by Google's search engine. None of the features introduced addressed the Facebook challenge. - AP

Source: TechCentral

New MacBook Air to hit market this month

2011-06-22T12:59:00.003+08:00

TAIPEI: The latest model of Apple's ultra-light MacBook Air is scheduled to hit the market by the end of this month, media in the computer manufacturing hub of Taiwan reported.

The first shipment of the next-generation MacBook Air - the thinnest line of Apple's notebook computers, shorn of a hard drive and optical disc player - will be 380,000 units, the Taipei-based Economic Daily News said.

An 11.6in model will account for 55% of the units in the first batch, and a 13.3in model the rest, according to the paper.

It said that about 90% of MacBook Airs would be assembled by Taiwan's Quanta Computer, a leading contract computer manufacturer. - AFP/Relaxnews 2011

Source: TechCentral

An Upgraded 7-inch 'Galaxy Tab' Android Tablet? Let's Hope So

2011-06-22T12:53:00.003+08:00

In a rumor that's as shaky as rumors get, Samsung may be working on an updated version of its 7-inch Galaxy Tab.

That's right, the original iPad rival that was quickly overshadowed by newer, shinier competition -- including the iPad 2 and a bigger Samsung tablet -- is reportedly getting a refresh, according to Italy's unofficial Samsung HD Blog.

And you know what? That's not such a bad idea.

The original Samsung Galaxy Tab was part of a rare tablet breed that's small enough to hold in one hand and comfortable to grip with two hands. Compared to 10-inch tablets like the iPad, it's better for thumb-typing, gaming and reading e-books, but it's worse for video and doesn't offer as many possibilities for large-screen apps. For that matter, the Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2, which was never meant for tablets, so using one is kind of like wielding a gigantic smartphone.

(MORE: Samsung's Galaxy Tab: The Anti-iPad)

Since the Galaxy Tab launch, the iPad has seen more direct competition in Motorola's Xoom, Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, T-Mobile's G-Slate, Acer's Iconia Tab A500 and Asus' Eee Pad Transformer. But what all of these 10-inch tablets have demonstrated is that Honeycomb, a version of Android that's designed for tablets, is rough around the edges. The interface is more complicated than the iPad's -- fine if you're tech-savvy, but bad for everyone else -- and more importantly, there aren't a lot of tablet-optimized Android apps available. Not yet, at least.

So maybe Samsung was on to something with its blown-up smartphone.

Android 2.2 may not be quite right for tablets, but at least it's a solid platform. And while smartphone apps look kind of weird on a 10.1-inch screen, they don't really feel out of place on the 7-inch Galaxy Tab.

Time for a confession: I own one of these things. Woot, a website for daily deals, was selling refurbished Galaxy Tabs for $260 (Wi-Fi models now sell for $350), and I caved. I wanted a 7-inch tablet and got tired of waiting for something better. Truth is, the Galaxy Tab has been good to me, but there's no denying how stale it feels. Flash video chugs. The frame rate occasionally jumps. Sometimes the entire OS gets bogged down. In other words, hardware is more responsible for the Galaxy Tab's woes than software.

So when Samsung HD Blog says the company is building a new Galaxy Tab 7, with a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and most importantly, the non-tablet Android 2.3, I hope it's true even if the source of the information is unclear. It wouldn't be a cutting-edge device, but at a time when Android tablet makers are coming up short with their iPad clones, a revamped Galaxy Tab would at least offer something different.

Source: Techland

Facebook Finally Readies Its Own iPad App for Launch

2011-06-22T12:43:00.000+08:00

Late last night news broke that Facebook was finally making its own iPad app. "An iPad app?" you say. "Haven't iPads been around for, like, a year now?"

Yep. The iPad's been without a native Facebook app since its launch in April 2010. But the New York Times is reporting that sources at Facebook will introduce their long-awaited iPad app some time in the next few weeks.

(PHOTOS: Life Inside Facebook Headquarters)

The reason for the delay seems to be that the app has undergone several redesigns in order to be optimized for the best-selling tablet. On the other hand, a native app for the iPhone was available right away when it was first released in July 2008, and remains a mainstay among Apple's top apps.

But according to reports, the new iPad app will have some exciting new functionality. Per the New York Times:

"People who have seen the application said it has a slick design that has been tailored for the iPad and its touchscreen interface. Facebook developers and designers have also overhauled the Facebook Chat and Facebook Groups features for the application. And the app will go beyond the features available on the Facebook Web site by allowing users to shoot and upload photos and videos directly from the iPad's built-in cameras."

The hole in the app store left unfilled by the social networking giant has allowed third-parties to build their own Facebook clients and enjoy successful runs, like Friendly and MyPad, while the web experience has been accounted for as subpar. Thus, in addition to the new iPad app, Facebook is reportedly planning on optimizing its web interface as well.

Nick Bilton of the New York Times suggests that this partnership between Apple and Facebook could tip the tablet wars even more heavily in the iPad's favor, leaving Google's Android platform even farther behind.

Easier than hiring PR people to plant phony news about your competitor, right? Right.

Source: Techland

iPhone 5 Won't Be a Weak Upgrade, Might Hit in August

2011-06-22T12:17:00.003+08:00

With the iPhone 5, Apple may not be mailing it in like previous reports would have you believe. A new rumor says the next iPhone will actually be a significant upgrade, with an entirely new design.

Apple, having already broken tradition by not announcing a new iPhone at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, may actually announce the iPhone 5 in early- to mid-August, with a launch later that month, according to Boy Genius Report.

Take this with a grain of salt, however, as BGR's anonymous sources don't have a spectacular record with Apple rumors.

(LIST: 50 Best iPhone Apps 2011)

So far, iPhone 5 rumors have been all over the map. A report from March said the device would have an internal antenna and aluminum body, in the style of 2007's original iPhone. The blog This is My Next has reported that the iPhone 5 will have an edge-to-edge display and a super-slim teardrop-shaped design.

But last month, an analyst said to only expect minor cosmetic changes, with the so-called 'iPhone 4S" coming to Sprint and T-Mobile. The only safe bet for now is that the next iPhone -- whatever it's called -- will use the same dual-core A5 processor found in the iPad 2.

In any case, I do hope Apple shakes up the iPhone's design this time around. The iPhone 4, while pretty to look at, has sharp edges that are in my opinion less comfortable to hold than a phone with gentle curves, and the rear glass panel is just another surface to worry about scratching.
The iPhone 4's external antenna also introduced some reception issues when the phone was gripped firmly in areas with poor wireless coverage. A return to the original iPhone's aluminum-clad frame would be welcome, while introducing more design similarities to the iPad and MacBook Air.

Short of any devastating leaks of borderline-stolen prototypes, we'll just have to wait until August (or September, or whenever) to find out.

Source: Techland

Apple - Introducing iOS 5

2011-06-21T19:10:00.000+08:00

Seng Kee Restaurant @ KL

2011-06-19T15:16:00.001+08:00

Seng Kee Restaurant - Famous with their "Claypot Lou Shi Fun" (Rat Tail Noodle) and Siew Yoke Mee (Roasted Pork Noodle). This restaurant has been many years in KL and it have good business almost every night especially weekend. They have 3 shops for customers.

The food serve in few minutes after we ordered, it was really fast even full of customers. The "Claypot Loh Shi Fun" was really nice, it served with minced meat and raw egg on it and the gravy goes well with the noodle, thumbs up!

Claypot Lou Shi Fun

Siew Yok Mee (Roasted Pork Noodle)

Intestine with ginger onion

Other than these, they also selling Yong Tau Fu, taste not bad as well.

Have a try by yourself, you will know the real taste of it.

China Town Seng Kee
52, Jalan Sultan,
50000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603.2072.5950
Operating hours: Noon - 3.00am

Strawberry Fields @ PJ State

2011-06-19T14:25:00.004+08:00

Went for brunch at Strawberry Fields at PJ State last week after renewed my driving license, their shop interior decorated with classic music style, even they place Elvis Presley's photos, guitars and those related stuff in their restaurant.

Carbonara Chicken Pasta

Thai Fried Bihun

Butter Cream Chicken Pasta

Thai Fried Rice

They have varieties choices of foods, drinks, finger foods and etc to choose from. All foods are served in Halal. Personally I don't feel it taste good but you guys may pay a visit to taste the foods by yourself.

Strawberry Fields
Lot 14, Jalan Tengah PJ New Town (PJ State),
Petaling Jaya, 46200 Selangor. (Same row as UOB Bank)
Cuisine: Western + Local Dishes

Board to probe ‘nude squat’

2011-06-16T14:15:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: An investigation board will probe whether the arrests of two Singaporean women were done according to the law, said Immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad.

He said the board would also check whether the incident stemmed from the carelessness of officials involved.

“The board will make recommendations for the department to carry out,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said an investigation report was expected within a week and that the department was taking this issue seriously.

The board, known as the Malaysian Immigration Special Investigation Board (LPKIM), will start work today and is headed by department deputy director-general (control) Datuk Raja Mohd Raja Ismail.

Other board members include the department enforcement division director Mohd Zamberi Abdul Aziz, and officers from the police, Prisons Department and detention depot departments.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the authorities would also look at the standard operational procedures involving those detained at checkpoints to determine if changes are needed.

“If the operating procedures do not meet current needs, then changes and amendments must be made based on the findings of the inquiry.

“It is wrong to say that the Immigration front-liners were involved. They (the women) were actually brought to the detention centre,” he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

The women had been arrested at the Sultan Iskandar Immigration checkpoint in Johor Baru on June 9.

It was reported that the women were allegedly detained at the Immigration checkpoint for several hours before being taken to the Pekan Nenas detention centre on June 9.

They were told to strip, perform 10 squats and jailed for the night before being released at about 5pm the following day.

Source: The Star Online

Cops probing website hackings

2011-06-16T14:11:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Police are investigating several websites that were hacked following a threat by international hacker group called Anonymous.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said so far the only cases of hacking known to them was the Polytechnic Department website www.politeknik.edu.my as well as www.tourmalaysia.com.my, but these were done by a local group on Tuesday.

“We are aware of a rising trend of cyber-crimes nationwide, including the misuse of the Internet,” he said when asked to comment on reports that the www.malaysia.gov.my website was targeted by the hacker group due to the censorship of several websites by the Government.

Khalid said police were working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the hack threat made by group.

It was reported yesterday that Malaysia was on alert after a threat from the foreign-based hacker group that it would attack the Government's online portal from yesterday.

The group said the move was in response to the Government's ban on 10 file-sharing sites.

The MCMC had on May 30 or-dered local Internet service providers to block the banned sites.

Anonymous has already carried out cyber-attacks on Government websites in Turkey for what was seen as Internet censorship.

Source: The Star Online

Websites defaced before deadline set by hacker group

2011-06-16T14:06:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Local websites have been hacked ahead of the deadline set by a foreign-based hacker group, Anonymous, that said it would attack the Malaysian Government portal at 3.30am today.

On the micro-blogging site Twitter yesterday evening, there were reports that 27 sites in total had been hacked.

But these were not named and there was no confirmation from the authorities as to the accuracy of the tweets.

Among the sites known to have been hacked was the Sabah Tourism website, www.sabahtourism.com. The defaced site was spotted early yesterday by the chief executive of a company that organises security conferences.

“A portion of the website was deleted when I saw it,” said Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, who heads Hack In The Box (M) Sdn Bhd. “I had just returned from an overseas trip.”

The Sabah Tourism website has since gone offline.

F-Secure Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, a computer security software company, corroborated Dhillon's account.

Goh Su Gim, its security adviser for Asia, said the Sabah Tourism site was compromised.

“Worse still, the data from 392 user accounts were stolen from the site and released to the public,” he said.

The data that was posted online were e-mail addresses and passwords.

On the webpage where the hackers posted the data, they claimed they had the details of more than 3,400 users from the Sabah Tourism site, but they were only exposing the 392.

The hackers also claimed to be Anonymous members and that they meant no harm, and only wanted to show the vulnerability of this site.

According to Dhillon, the www.tourmalaysia.com.my site was also hacked and defaced yesterday. He had checked the site after viewing the hacked Sabah Tourism website. It was defaced with words that included “Deface by Kambeng Merah: Credit to DarkJawa.”

Another website hacked was www.cidb.gov.my, which belongs to the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

It was defaced with a long message that scolded the Government for censoring the Internet. However, a while later, the site was back to normal.

Dhillion said he believed these sites may not have been hacked by Anonymous.

“The hacker group is into co-ordinated attacks and keeps to its word when it comes to launching its attacks,” he said. “These are likely independent hackers taking advantage of the publicity.”

CyberSecurity Malaysia, responsible for the nation's borders in cyberspace, confirmed that several websites were hacked. But it declined to say how many and which were the sites.

“At present, we are not able to elaborate further,” said Lt Col (Rtd) Datuk Husin Jazri, chief executive officer of CyberSecurity.

He said rectification works were being conducted by the relevant authorities to address the situation.

Anonymous had threatened to hack the www.malaysia.gov.my portal to protest against the Government's censorship of the Internet and because Malaysia had blocked 10 filesharing sites.

These sites were among the most visited by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

Source: The Star Online

Some Malaysian websites are offline

2011-06-16T14:03:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: The www.malaysia.gov.my portal targeted for attack at 3.30am today by a foreign-based hacker group has been offline since midnight. Several other Malaysian Government websites are also offline.

Speculation is rife on blogs and Twitter, the micro-blogging site, with some believing that the hacker group that calls itself Anonymous has launched a distributed denial-of-service attack on the websites.

Others, however, seem equally sure that local authorities have unplugged the servers of these sites, either in an attempt to spoil Anonymous' plan, or to buy more time for website security to be upgraded before putting the sites back online.

Securitynewsdaily.com posted that the malaysia.gov.my website became unresponsive around midnight, most likely due to a denial-of-service attack.

This method of attack involves bombarding the website with an ever increasing amount of requests that it eventually becomes unable to handle all the queries and crashes.

On Twitter, some said they don't believe it was due to plug-pulling, while others stated that it was. One person tweeted that he received e-mail messages advising him to switch off servers, but did not provide more details when contacted through Twitter.

The other government websites that were offline include www.parlimen.gov.my, www.rmp.gov.my (Royal Malaysian Police), www.treasury.gov.my (Ministry of Finance), and www.mocat.gov.my (Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism).

But the Parliament, Treasury and Police websites came back up before 9am.

Among the unaffected are the websites belonging to the Ministry of Defence, Department of Islamic Development, the Election Commission, and Tourism Malaysia.

Anonymous had threatened to hack the malaysia.gov.my portal to protest against the Malaysian Government's censorship of the Internet, movies and TV shows. And because Malaysia had banned and called for the blocking of 10 filesharing sites. These sites were among the most visited by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

Source: The Star Online

Earthquake in Papua New Guinea

2011-06-16T14:01:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Papua New Guinea has been struck by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake at 8.03am (local time) on Thursday.

The Meteorological Department said the earthquake struck at 605km northeast of Port Moresby.

There is no danger from tsunami. - BERNAMA

MCMC: 41 Govt websites disrupted at various levels

2011-06-16T13:59:00.000+08:00

CYBERJAYA: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed Thursday that there were attempts to hack several Malaysian government websites, including its website, www.skmm.gov.my

"Regarding the threat by unknown hackers to attack websites with the .gov.my domain, there were indeed attempts to hack several Malaysian government websites.

"These attacks started at approximately 11.30pm, on Wednesday, June 15. We are able to confirm that 51 .gov.my websites were attacked and there has been disruption at various levels to at least 41 of those websites.

"However, we do not expect the overall recovery to these websites to take long as most websites have already recovered from the attack.

"Our monitoring of the situation showed that there was a reduced level of attacks by 4.00am this morning (Thursday) and upon further evaluation, so far we gauge that there has been little impact on Malaysian users as a result of this attack.

"MCMC's Network Security Centre has been making concerted efforts to mitigate the attacks around the clock and will continue to work with other enforcement agencies and security experts as well service providers to monitor the situation.

"The public is advised to report any information they may have regarding the identity of these hackers as the act to disrupt network services is a serious offence, which is punishable by law," MCMC said in a statement.

It added that the attempt to hack MCMC's website was not successful.

Source: The Star Online

Country's first electric motorcycle launched

2011-06-16T13:55:00.002+08:00

KLANG: The country's first electric-powered motorcycle has been launched by the Transport Minister.

Energy consumption for the environmentally friendly vehicle Modenas CTric, which will have a top speed of 70km per house, is one sen per kilometre.

At an average speed of 30km per hour, it can go as far as 60km on a single charge.

Source: The Star Online

Shut-down of Windows Marketplace for Mobile Web Site and My Phone Service

2011-06-16T13:23:00.000+08:00

Microsoft will be discontinuing the My Phone service for Windows Mobile 6.x. We will also be discontinuing the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site. Because you may be affected, please review the details below:

Windows Marketplace for Mobile Web Site To Be Discontinued

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site at http://marketplace.windowsphone.com will no longer be available starting on July 15, 2011. After July 15, 2011, you will no longer be able to browse, buy or download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x phones via the Windows Marketplace for Mobile web site.

The Windows Marketplace for Mobile service will continue to be available on your phone, however. You will continue to be able to browse, buy and download applications for Windows Mobile 6.x on your phone.

My Phone To Be Discontinued

On August 7, 2011, the My Phone service will stop saving content from phones to the My Phone service. If you rely on the My Phone service to back-up the content on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone, you will be affected.

Starting on August 7, 2011, Microsoft will begin moving your My Phone content to Windows Live SkyDrive. SkyDrive is Microsoft's free online storage service that helps you access and share your files such as photos and Microsoft Office documents. Contacts, calendar entries, text messages and photos will be moved to SkyDrive for you. Once moved, you will be able to access this content by logging into SkyDrive using the Windows Live ID that you used to register for the My Phone service.

Other content types, including videos, music, documents and favorites will not be moved from My Phone to SkyDrive for you. If you want this content, you must save it from the My Phone service to your local PC.

On October 6, 2011, the My Phone web site at http://www.microsoft.com/myphone will no longer be available. On this date, you will no longer be able to log in to the My Phone service to access your content stored to the My Phone service. Microsoft will continue to store your My Phone content for one (1) year. Physical copies of your content can be shipped to you upon request until October 5, 2012.

Take Action

To learn more about the My Phone service shut-down, including information about your content moving to Windows Live SkyDrive and how to save other content to your local PC, please visit this web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2557520

Microsoft is committed to making this transition easy. In the meantime, we want to sincerely thank you for your use of Windows Mobile 6.x.

RM1.8mil FB page to boost tourism

2011-06-15T21:06:00.001+08:00

THE Tourism Ministry needs to allocate funds to reach out to global travellers, including youngsters, through social media, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said.

She said a RM1,758,432 allocation by the ministry to develop its Facebook page professionally was part of its social media campaign, adding that it was a small amount compared to that spent by other countries in the region.

The Philippines spent RM7mil on social media for its tourism campaign while Australia had allocated about A$150mil (RM485mil) over the next three years.

Dr Ng was hitting out at those questioning in Parliament the ministry’s expenditure to develop its Facebook page.

She said these people must understand that the tourism sector was one of the main revenue earners for the country.

Earlier, Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit (Mambong-BN) had explained that the ministry spent close to RM1.8mil to develop its Facebook page to promote the ministry’s domestic tourism market and activities from this year to year 2013.

Call for tolerance over diesel subsidy cut

2011-06-15T13:59:00.002+08:00

TAWAU: The Tawau Fishermen's Association has asked offshore and trawler fishermen to exercise more tolerance over the withdrawal of their diesel super subsidy as of June 1.

Its chairman Hasan Timbasal said they still enjoyed subsidised diesel at RM1.80 per litre while the market price for the fuel was RM2.80.

“Usually, a trawler or an offshore fishing boat uses between 50,000 and 60,000 litres of diesel a month. At the price of RM1.80 the subsidy savings of the trawler can be more than RM40,000 a month,” he told Bernama.

The government had removed the diesel super subsidy on nine categories of commercial vehicles on June 1 but retained it for the other beneficiaries.

Hasan said inshore fishermen only used up to 60 litres of diesel a day and the savings from the subsidy was RM2,430 per month, much less than the savings of offshore fishermen. -- Bernama

Source: The Star Online

Attack on govt website will be prevented, says Rais (Updated)

2011-06-15T13:56:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: The country's cyber security authorities are working towards preventing a planned attack on Malaysian government website www.malaysia.gov.my, said Information, Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

However, he declined to elaborate on the preventive actions, saying that they were confidential.

A hacker group, calling itself Anonymous has threatened to launch the attack on the government's official website at about 3.30am Thursday.

The group said in a Youtube posting that it was acting against the various forms of censorship by the Malaysian government and the recent move to block 10 file-sharing websites.

Dr Rais added that the hacker group had misunderstood the government's intention in blocking the 10 filesharing websites.

“We do not have censorship, except when crimes are committed through cyberspace,” he said, adding that the ministry was taking the threats very seriously.

Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police was aware of the hack threat and was working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)to investigate the issue.

He added that there was a rise in cyber crimes including the misuse of the Internet for criminal activities.

Source: The Star Online

Singapore wants to know more on nude squat incident

2011-06-15T13:54:00.000+08:00

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry has asked the Malaysian immigration authorities for more information on the treatment of two Singaporean women detained for nearly 48 hours in Johor Baru.

The women - who wanted to be known only as Ms Chang and Ms Lim - told The Straits Times that they were handcuffed, thrown behind bars and forced to undress and perform squats.

Their nightmare happened after they accidentally entered Johor Baru without getting their passports stamped, by driving through what they said was an unmanned immigration lane.

“Our consulate in JB has been in touch with the Malaysian immigration authorities to enquire on the investigation and detention procedures that the two Singaporeans underwent,” said a ministry spokesman.

Chang, an insurance industry manager in her late 30s, and Lim, an estate agent in her late 20s, met up with consular officers here Tuesday to recount their ordeal.

They had driven across the Causeway for a snack in the early hours of last Thursday. After realising they had accidentally gone straight through immigration, they immediately did a U-turn.

They said they were questioned by immigration officers, and then taken to the Pekan Nenas detention centre in Pontian where they were ordered to strip and do 10 squats each. -- ST/ANN

Source: The Star Online

Radiopharmaceutical company's premises sealed due to radiation

2011-06-15T13:45:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: A radiopharmaceutical company in Selangor has been ordered to stop operations and its premises have been sealed by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) for further investigation, after radioactive materials were detected on four of its workers.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said the radioactive contamination was detected by AELB through a Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) system at 11.30am on June 2, after the four workers went to the AELB office.

"The radiation reading on one of the workers exceeded more than 400 times the normal reading (the normal reading is 0.5 micro Sievert/hour)," he said in press statement here Tuesday.

He said the four workers had gone through the decontamination process, with three of them at the National Radiological Emergency Centre at the AELB head office in Dengkil.

The other worker, who was directly involved with the radiopharmaceutical leakage, was decontaminated at the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, he added.

Ongkili said an AELB team also monitored the company premises the same day and found the contamination there at more than 100 times the normal reading.

"The contaminated area has been cordoned off to ensure the radiation does not spread or any radioactive particles leave the place," he added.

The company was also ordered to review its work procedure and to submit remedial action to prevent the incident from happening again. - Bernama

Source: The Star Online

Guess What: iCloud Uses Windows Azure Services For Hosting Data

2011-06-15T13:14:00.003+08:00

The wizards at InfiniteApple, a recently-established Apple-related blog have found out that Apple’s iCloud online services actually use third-party services, namely Amazon Cloud Services and Windows Azure.

It turns out that iCloud seems to use Windows Azure and Amazon Cloud Services for storage, as shown by a packet dump. Below we’re quoting some of the juicy parts:

PUT https://mssat000001.blob.core.windows.net:443/cnt/1234.5678 HTTP/1.1
Host: mssat000001.blob.core.windows.net:443

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
Content-MD5: [redacted]
Last-Modified: [redacted]
ETag: [redacted]
Server: Windows-Azure-Blob/1.0 Microsoft-HTTPAPI/2.0
x-ms-request-id: [redacted]
x-ms-version: 2009-09-19
Date: [redacted]
Connection: close
Content-Length: 0

While we’re no network experts, it’s pretty easy to infer that iCloud is using third-parties to store most data, including images, as explained by InfiniteApple. The dump above only shows references to Windows Azure, although the service contacts Amazon Cloud Services in a number of instances.

Yesterday, I went at great lengths to explain why I believe iCloud will have a great shot at realizing Microsoft’s original "software plus services" vision, since it does a lot to keep all devices owned by the same user in sync. While it’s rather funny that Apple has made a brand-new product that has technology made by one of its longtime rivals at its heart, I believe that’s not necessarily a downside: by outsourcing its storage and server management to an outside company, Apple can now spend more energy on making sure the product itself works.

Microsoft and Apple have worked together in the past. Back in 1997, when Steve Jobs returned to the then-struggling company, he struck a deal with Microsoft for the Redmond company to develop software for the Mac platform, in order to revive it. Back in 2008, Apple worked with Microsoft again to bring Exchange, a centralized e-mail and contacts service used by many companies, to the iPhone, in order to appeal to business customers, which were lacking at the time.

Having such a reputable company as a customer was probably one of Microsoft’s dreams when it created Azure. With data centers all over the world, Microsoft will now have the opportunity to power a service like iCloud and pride itself in the technological advancements of Azure; while Apple can proud itself in the user base iCloud might one day get. I believe it’s a win-win for both companies.

It’s important to note that this is merely related to iCloud’s back end and it’s unlikely that Microsoft had any major involvement in developing iCloud.

(via InfiniteApple)

Source: Redmond Pie

Strongest radiation - iPhone 4

2011-06-15T13:02:00.002+08:00

(Reuters Hong Kong 14) World Health Organization included in the earlier phone radiation "probably carcinogenic" category, the same level with the plasticizer. Hong Kong, a test showed that the release of Apple's iPhone is the highest amount of radiation.

"Apple Daily" commissioned by the City University of electromagnetic laboratory, testing 5-renowned mobile communications products, under actual use of the amount of radiation released. Apple iPhone 4, whether the results of the call or data transmission, the amount of radiation released are the highest.

WHO refers to mobile phone radiation, is the body of RF energy actually absorbed, that "Specific Absorption Rate." "Apple" will iPhone 4 and iPad 2, HTC Desire HD, Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Atrix, 5 models of mobile communication equipment Chiu Hing Jiaocheng big test.

iPhone 4 in the two tests are the highest values of radiation, in a call the next, iPhone 4 in the "Specific Absorption Rate" value of 0.33 watts, the lowest Samsung Galaxy SII, only 0.02 watts.

Data transmission tests, iPhone 4 also the highest amount of radiation, up to 1.28 watts, is the call 4 times the minimum amount of radiation is the new Motorola mobile phone Atrix, only 0.47 watts.

Video

Hong Kong's most powerful electromagnetic survey - iPhone4

Source: LowYat Forum

Sumatra quakes felt across several states, forcing evacuations

2011-06-15T12:43:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Tremors from two earthquakes that hit Sumatra were felt in several states prompting some evacuations.

The tremors were felt as far away as Selangor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Putrajaya.

The first 5.5-magnitude earthquake occurred at 8.08am and the second 5.6-magnitude quake hit the same place at 11.01am yesterday.

Seeking comfort: Alya Batrisya, five, getting a hug from her mother after tremors were felt in Putrajaya yesterday.— Bernama

In Kuala Lumpur, employees at Wisma BSN along Jalan Ampang were evacuated for almost an hour after the 11am tremors.

BSN corporate affairs vice-president Emilia Azyyati Abdul Rahman said over 1,000 employees were asked to assemble at two locations on either side of the office tower.

“I was up on the 19th floor when I felt the tremor. But it was very faint.

“We waited for firefighters to finish inspecting the building before going back,” said Emilia.

However, there was no evacuation at the Petronas Twin Towers across the street.

Workers in several other buildings in Damansara including Menara HP and Bangunan CIMB also felt the tremors and left their offices as a precaution.

Several readers also related their experience to The Star through email.

A student at Inti College, Y.S. Yan, was in the middle of an examination when the tremors hit.

“We were told to leave the building when the tables started shaking,” said Yan.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) employees were asked to evacuate their stations and gather at the football field.

Within TNB compounds, three buildings the headquarters, the National Load Dispatch Centre and TNB Generation were evacuated.

In Putrajaya, hundreds of people, mostly government staff, scrambled for safety when tremors were felt in several buildings. Civil servants working in the buildings in Parcel E, especially the Education and Health ministries, reported that they saw their chairs moving slightly.

Clerk Hairani Mohamad was just about to start work when she suddenly felt dizzy and saw her pen on the table rolling.

“Then I felt the building shake. When I saw other staff members rushing out of the building, I realised it was something serious and it turned out to be the earthquakes,” she said.

A Putrajaya Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said several teams were sent to Precincts 1, 2, 15 and 18 after it received reports of tremors.

Checks on the buildings later found no damage, he added.

A Fire and Rescue Department officer for Selangor and Kuala Lumpur said they received distress calls from over 100 people claiming that they had felt the tremors in their high-rise offices and buildings.

The state fire department inspected 15 buildings and gave the all-clear later.

The Kuala Lumpur Fire Department said 11 buildings were inspected with no structural damage detected.

Source: The Star Online

Motorists to bear cost of testing vehicles

2011-06-15T12:36:00.002+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Car owners, not car dealers, will bear the costs of Puspakom's Transfer of Ownership (B5) and Hire-Purchase (B7) inspections, the Federation of Motor and Credit Companies Associations of Malaysia (FMCCAM) said.

Secretary-general Khoo Kah Jin said motorists wanting to sell theirvehicles to used car dealers have to pay for the B5 and B7 inspections first.

“We will evaluate the car according to Puspakom's inspection results,” he told The Star yesterday.

Stringent check: A Puspakom vehicle inspector checking that the window tint is within regulations at the new Bukit Maluri service centre.

However, he said the federationremained totally against the B7 inspection costing RM60 which is to be enforced from today, deeming it “an unnecessary cost.”

“The four-point B5 inspection is sufficient to test a vehicle's roadworthiness. Sellers can always go to a trusted mechanic for additional free professional advice,” he noted.

On Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's statement last week that used motorcycles would be exempted from the B7 test due to the small number involved, Khoo questioned why this was the case if safety was the main issue

Meanwhile, FMCCAM and Gerakan Youth will submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Department and the ministry today requesting to delay the implementation of the B7 inspection.

According to the amended Hire-Purchase Act, motorists wanting to sell their vehicles need to send the cars for a comprehensive 18-point inspection by Puspakom before entering into a hire-purchase agreement.

The inspection will include computerised testing for smoke emission, brakes, side-slip and suspension.

Source: The Star Online

Puspakom invests RM20mil on HPI services

2011-06-15T12:32:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Puspakom has built 19 new dedicated lanes for motorists sending their used cars for the Hire-Purchase Inspection (HPI) to be enforced today.

Chief executive officer Hisham Othman said the body had invested RM20mil to add lanes to existing service centres and build six new branches in Taman Bukit Maluri, Pandan Mewah, Jalan Tandang, Batu Caves, and Taman Daya in Johor Baru and Pengkalan Chepa in Kota Baru.

An additional lane has been added to branches in Glenmarie, Wangsa Maju, Sungai Petani, Padang Jawa and Kuching, he said.

“We have selected heavily-populated locations where there are many car dealers. We have also engaged 121 new vehicle inspectors in our centres,” he told The Star.

Hisham said business hours had been extended to 7pm from 5pm, but assured motorists that service centres would continue to inspect cars up until midnight “as long as there is a queue and people are willing to wait.”

“We will stay open to complete the inspection,” he said, adding that this also covered weekends.

The HPI, also known as the B7 inspection, comprises an 18-point inspection using both visual and computerised equipment to test a vehicle's roadworthiness.

It is part of amendments made to the Hire-Purchase Act 1967.

Car owners have to pay RM60 more for the new inspection besides the RM30 for the existing Transfer of Ownership (B5) four-point inspection.

However, Hisham explained that vehicle owners need not be subjected to both B5 and B7 inspections simulatenously as separate certificates were issued for each.

“As long as the owner does not enter into a hire-purchase agreement, there is no need for the B7. It's your choice, you can do both at once or come twice,” he said.

The B5 and B7 certificates are valid for a month and two months respectively from the inspection date.

Source: The Star Online

RIM wants another file-sharing site blocked

2011-06-15T12:29:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: The Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) has called on the Government to ban another file-sharing site - jiwang.org.

It claimed that the site specialises in providing pirated Malaysian music recordings for illegal downloads.

RIM said the site also reaps lucrative advertising revenue from commercial organisations.

Last week, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) banned 10 file-sharing sites and called on local Internet service providers to block access to the sites.

RIM chairman Norman Abdul Halim lauded the Government's efforts to uphold copyright laws in cyberspace by taking action against the file-sharing sites.

The websites were among the most visited by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

He added that RIM had filed a complaint with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry about jiwang.org.

Norman said the ban was a good starting point against illegal downloads, although savvy Internet users could still circumvent any blocks.

Malaysia is the first country in South-East Asia to block file-sharing sites, he said.

Although Internet censorship was against the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees, which states that the Government will not censor the Internet, it was illegal to download pirated songs and movies, he said.

Source: The Star Online

2011-06-15T12:27:00.001+08:00

Foreign-based hacker group plans to strike websites

2011-06-15T12:06:00.005+08:00

PETALING JAYA: A hacker group has threatened to attack the www.malaysia.gov.my website.

The group, which calls itself Anonymous, will launch the attack at 3.30am Wednesday and has named it “Operation Malaysia.”

It posted the threat in a graphic on the website i.imgur.com/PTFWh.png Tuesday.

Warning: The graphic with Anonymous’ threat that was posted online

Several local hackers, when contacted said at minimum the government portal would be defaced and at worse it would be brought down.

But they said the worst would be that the hackers pry personal, credit card or financial data from a government website, or an e-payment concessionaire such as MyEG.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at the F-Secure Corporation a computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland tweeted about the threat at 4.42am Malaysian time yesterday.

Several hours later, Anonymous announced its reasons for wanting to attack the government portal, which were posted in an open letter that started with “Greetings, Malaysia ...” on a website and in a video on YouTube.

It said it was acting against what it claimed were various acts of censorship by the Malaysian Government and also because of the recent move to block file-sharing sites in Malaysia.

Anonymous also accused the Government of censoring films and TV shows, and for restricting the Internet which it said was a basic human right.

“We fear that if you make further decisions to take away human freedom, we are obligated to act fast and have no mercy,” the group said in its statement.

On YouTube, a video featured a digitally-generated voice that read out the group's message.

There had been an uptick in such “hacktivism” in recent weeks, where hacker groups targeted various organisations for political purposes.

Recently, the hacker group launched attacks on Turkish Government websites for alleged Internet censorship. Following that incident, Turkey arrested 32 people, suspected to be Anonymous members.

Source: The Star Online

Edison Chen invited ex-girlfriend Wong for sex

2011-06-11T14:09:00.006+08:00

EDISON Chen, who was involved in a sex photo scandal with several female artistes, invited his ex-girlfriend for sex.

Nanyang Siang Pau reported that the star contacted lingerie model Gloria Wong via MSN Messenger.

Apologetic: Chen performing during the Asian Music Festival 2011. Chen apologised twice to Wong after asking her to have sex with him.

He first asked the woman what she was doing and said he was staying at a hotel.

He then wrote: “I was going to see if you want to **** me.” But later explained that he meant “seeing him”.

Chen apologised twice after the woman did not reply.

Wong, who dated Chen between 2003 and 2004, said she refused to have sex with the singer-actor because he had a girlfriend at that time.

The daily also reported that former Taiwanese politician Chu Mei-Feng, who was videotaped having sex with a married man, has given birth.

The 44-year-old single mother, however, declined to reveal the identity of the boy's father.

Chu left the political arena after the exposure of her sex scandal in 2001, but returned eight years later and became the special assistant to the then Taipei councillor.

She married a Chinese man 10 years her junior in 2007 but they are now divorced.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.

Source: The Star Online

Skin grafting for acid victim

2011-06-11T14:01:00.002+08:00

SEREMBAN: A woman who was blinded and badly scarred in an acid attack on March 2 will undergo skin grafting to improve her appearance.

Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital (TJH) ophthalmology department head Dr Bethel Livingstone said there was little hope that Zuhaina Tengkis’ eyesight could be restored but doctors would try to improve the appearance of her eyes.

The 27-year-old mother of two was taken to TJH after the attack and was immediately transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital due to the seriousness of her injuries.

Doing what they can: Dr Livingstone examining Zuhaina’s eyes while Dr Yeow (centre) and Seremban MCA division caring society chairman Titan Ho look on.

Dr Livingstone said Hospital Kuala Lumpur doctors performed membrane grafting to prevent Zuhaina’s corneas from melting and to prevent infection.

“Both her eyes were severely burnt by the acid.

“She will still need to go for follow-up treatment in HKL before the skin grafting operation can be done,” she said after the victim was brought to the hospital for an assessment of her condition.

State MCA chief Datuk Dr Yeow Chai Thiam, who highlighted Zuhaina’s plight, said he would raise funds for the victim and her family as her husband Nor Azman Jani, 30, was a rubber tapper and earned only RM500 monthly.

“Zuhaina’s husband is the sole breadwinner of the family and he can’t go out to work now as he has to look after her and their children.

Zuhaina before the acid attack which left her blind and badly scarred.

“We are hoping to raise funds for his travelling expenses to and from KL and to enable him to start a small business from home so he can take care of his family,” he said, adding that Zuhaina would also be given a wheelchair to help her move about her house.

Zuhaina and her 17-year-old niece were heading back to their Kg Belihoi Orang Asli home near here after meeting a friend in Mantin when they were attacked by two men on a motorcycle who splashed acid on them.

State CID chief ACP Hamdan Majid said police believed the incident was an isolated case and unrelated to the recent spate of similar attacks in the Klang Valley.

Source: The Star Online

Price watch portal hacked

2011-06-11T13:51:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: The barely week-old price watch portal has been breached by hackers who got away with the private details of about 2,000 registered users.

Online community portal Lowyat.net yesterday posted an article highlighting that the 1Malaysia Pengguna Bijak’s (1MPB) website had “several vulnerabilities” that allowed hackers to obtain sign-up details, user names, e-mail addresses and hashed passwords.

The security breach came after the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry admitted on June 9 that the portal experienced “teething problems” because of the 3.5 million hits it received two days after it was launched.

Lowyat.net founder and chief executive officer Vijandren Ramadass said an SQL injection (a code injection technique that exploits a security vulnerability in the database) could be used on the price watch portal to retrieve the entire database remotely.

He added that a group of hackers calling themselves The Rilekscrew had exposed the flaw in the site.

Vijandren added that another local website, kenahack.com, had also published an article about the hacking and even listed out in detail how to retrieve the database there.

Vijandren added that he sent an e-mail to the administrators of 1pengguna.com explaining the vulnerability.

However, after two days, nothing had been done to secure the servers.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry consumerism and management division deputy secretary-general Mahani Tan Abdullah admitted there was “a breach of security” but played down the matter, saying that only the “the first layer” of the website’s security was penetrated.

She said efforts were being made to improve the security of the website.

“I assure the public that the site is safe. Most of the usernames and e-mails exposed belonged to ministry staff who were part of the initial data testing stage,” she added.

The contractor, Sands Consulting Sdn Bhd, could not be reached for comment.

Source: The Star Online

No more free downloads as MCMC blocks 10 file sharing sites

2011-06-11T13:43:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: In a bid to combat piracy, the Government has declared war on filesharing websites with 10 such websites now blocked by the telecommunications industry watchdog.

The websites were among the most visited sites by Malaysians to illegally download movies.

On May 30, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had written a letter to all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ordering the block.

The letter was signed by Digital Security Services division acting senior director Eneng Faridah Iskandar.

The letter, which was leaked online, also stated that the websites were being blocked for breaching Section 41 of the Copyright Act 1987, which deals with pirated content.

An MCMC spokesperson confirmed the ban and said it was done on the request of the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry.

The ministry's enforcement division director-general Mohd Roslan Mahayudin confirmed that the request was made.

“It is standard procedure for the ministry to request MCMC to block sites that violate the Copyright Act 1987,” he told The Star.

Roslan said the ministry had requested that 19 websites, including the 10 listed in the letter, be blocked for violating the Act but added that it was up to MCMC to decide on which ones to block.

When asked about the fate of surfers who legally use the websites such as for storing non-pirated content, Mohd Roslan said they could always write to the ministry.

“Anyone who feels the ban is wrong can write to us and we will look into it,” he said.

Film maker Norman Abd Halim of KRU Studios said the move was long overdue.

“The unauthorised use of copyright work is destroying the industry. If everyone feels that works should be shared, then there is no value in these works,” he said.

Norman equated the move to South Korea's three-strikes law, where a person guilty of copyright infringement can have their Internet access suspended for six months.

However, irate users have vented their frustration by creating a Facebook page to protest.

By 8.30pm yesterday, there were 410 supporters who “liked” the page that was named “1M Malaysians Don't Want Block File Sharing Websites.”

FilesTube Media Search Engine, one of the sites ordered blocked, also commented on the page.

“We have posted information about this on our wall. We are with you.”

Before the page was put up, some Malaysians were already protesting via Twitter.

“You can't create a walled-up Internet garden,” read one tweet.

Some also made reference to the MSC Malaysia Bill of Guarantees which states that the Government will not censor the Internet.

MSC Malaysia is a national initiative that kicked off in 1996 and is aimed at transforming the nation into a knowledge-based economy.

Source: The Star Online

Two more food items from Taiwan recalled

2011-06-11T13:41:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Two more food items from Taiwan have been recalled after similar products being exported to Hong Kong were suspected of being carcinogenic.

The items suspected of being tainted with di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) are the Oriyen Nutri Grow (boy) Orange Drink Premix (330g) and OriyenNutri Grow (girl) Cranberry Drink Premix (330g).

Health director-general Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman said in a statement Wednesday that the Taiwan FDA had informed the ministry that the two items have been exported to Malaysia.

“The ministry has ordered Cosway Malaysia Sdn. Bhd to immediately recall the items. The Health Ministry has taken samples to be analysed for DEHP and the products will be released if the analysis shows them to be free of DEHP.

“All distributors under Cosway Malaysia Sdn. Bhd are advised to cease sales of the product and those who have purchased the product are advised not to consume them,” said Dr Hasan.

He added that nine other food products from Taiwan suspected of being tainted with DEHP had been analysed and found not to contain the chemical.

The products include Apple Juice, Guava Juice, Grape Juice and Carambola Juice by Uni-President; and Frugurt Assorted Flavors, Fibrous Jelly White Peach Flavour, Fibrous Jelly Mango Flavor, Fibrous Jelly Grape Flavour and Squez'n Bites by New Choice.

Source: The Star Online

Couples have sex in supermarket car park

2011-06-09T21:28:00.001+08:00

A SUPERMARKET parking lot in Kota Baru has turned into a meeting point for couples to have sex during their lunch break, reported Harian Metro.

The couples need only pay RM2 per entry and they usually arrive in separate vehicles to avoid being spotted by acquaintances before engaging in sexual acts inside their cars in dimly-lit areas of the parking lot.

Supermarket workers could view what was going on through CCTVs installed at strategic spots in the parking lot.

“I have seen couples having sex in their cars,” a source said.

The Malay-language daily also reported that an express bus driver in Jasin showed an Indonesian woman a pornographic film before allegedly trying to rape her in the vehicle

The incident, which occurred at 10.45pm on Tuesday, happened when the 38-year-old suspect was driving the bus from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka Sentral but took a detour to an oil palm estate in Jalan Tiang Dua-Bukit Kajang before attempting to rape the woman.

The woman, a masseuse at a reflexology centre, told the man off for playing the clip when she was the last passenger on the bus.

However, the driver ignored her and took off his pants after stopping at a secluded area.

The woman was rescued when two police officers patrolling the area suspected something amiss and examined the bus.

Jasin OCPD Deputy Supt Che Suza Che Hitam said the patrol unit decided to check the bus because its engine was still running and they heard a woman screaming from inside.

The case is being investigated under Section 376 and 511 of the Penal Code for attempted rape.

> Kosmo! reported that police have arrested a man after he allegedly hit his wife with a stone mortar because she refused to have lunch with him.

The 25-year-old housewife suffered injuries to her thigh, chin and head during the incident in a Kuantan village on Sunday.

Pahang deputy CID chief Supt Mohd Haris Daud said the victim lodged a police report against her 28-year-old husband.

“We arrested him to assist in investigations under Section 323 of the Penal Code for causing hurt,” he said.

● Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

Source: The Star Online

Wives are not merely for sex

2011-06-09T21:26:00.002+08:00

KANGAR: Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim has hit out at husbands who treat their wives as sex objects instead of cultivating a good family life.

She said marriage was encouraged in Islam for couples to build a strong bond and a happy family – with both husband and wife shouldering the responsibilities.

“A man’s wife is not his courtesan. Loyalty in a marriage should not only be incumbent on the wife but a man, too, must be loyal to his wife.

“Therefore, there must not be husbands who try to cloud their wives’ (religious) understanding by telling them that their sacrifice in allowing their husbands to take another wife will ensure their place in heaven.”

Mashitah said this after the opening of the state-level Women’s Symposium by the Raja Perempuan of Perlis Tuanku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid at Dewan 2020 here yesterday.

Mashitah expressed regret that some men not only cajoled their wives into allowing them to be polygamous but also forced them to ask for the other woman’s hand in marriage on their behalf.

Meanwhile, the Obedient Wives Club’s (OWC) message towards women was not in line with the teachings of Islam, said Puteri Umno.

Its chief Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said Puteri Umno objected to the club’s position that women were the source of household and social problems.

“We feel that the club only prioritises nafsu (desires) as the main factor towards a harmonious home when there are other factors that cause a household to break down or create discord,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She urged Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd, who formed OWC, to involve both husband and wife in finding an answer to household problems that would impact society.

“The organisation should not confuse the public and cause people of other religions to view Muslims as only prioritising sex,” she said.

The OWC Malaysia chapter was launched last Saturday and has around 800 members.

Its vice-president Dr Rohaya Mohamad had said disobedient wives were the cause of social ills such as prostitution.

Source: The Star Online

Improve price portal, say consumers

2011-06-09T21:15:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Consumers say the portal to help them check and compare prices of goods sold at 1,255 retail outlets nationwide is a good initiative but needs to be improved.

Some felt that while it was innovative, it was not practical for the older generation who were not tech-savvy.

Administrative executive Surindar Kaur, 50, said she was impressed with the idea of the 1Malaysia Pengguna Bijak (1MPB) portal, set up by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry.

“I tried to log in to the portal but it was slow,” she said, adding that it was also confusing and difficult to use.

Associate strategic communications officer Farhanna Nazaruddin, 28, said the website was too cluttered and after 10 minutes of trying, the website failed.

“There are too many things to click on.”

Jane Lee, 57, said it would be better to display the price lists in newspapers or in leaflets it would be more convenient.

However, consumers could not log in to the site for most of the day.

An online portal quoted a ministry spokesman as saying there was a hardware problem, adding that there was no problem accessing the site but they could not get into the database of prices.

A check late on Wednesday found the portal working fine.

A peek into the future

2011-06-09T14:54:00.010+08:00

VARIED: The Canon Expo showcases the company's lineup of imaging products and solutions as well as future-oriented technologies and concepts.

SHANGHAI: The Canon Expo 2011 was held in Asia for the first time to showcase the company's lineup of imaging products and solutions, as well as future-oriented technologies and concepts.

The event which takes place every five years was held in Shanghai, China, which is the last stop for the roadshow that toured New York, Paris and Tokyo.

International superstar Jackie Chan, Canon's image ambassador, kicked off the event in which the company showcased cutting-edge technologies, some of which are expected to make it to homes and businesses in the near future.

Here they are.

Beyond HD

One highlight of the show was the Multipurpose Camera which shoots at what Canon calls "4K resolution" or up to four times the resolution of full HD (1080p).

What makes it unique and special from existing cameras is that it shoots images and videos at the same 4K resolution.

This camera also features a newly developed CMOS sensor that enables shooting at high frame-rates in excess of 60fps (frames per second), as well as a newly developed compact wide-angle lens with better zoom capabilities.

USER FRIENDLY: The Multipurpose Camera has a large grip and a 4in screen for allowing users to shoot still images and video from low or high angles, and around obstacles.

In terms of design, it has a large grip and a 4in screen for users when they shoot still images and video from low or high angles, and from around obstacles.

For sharing files in the home and over the Internet, Canon has invented the Cross Media Station. Family members who wish to share photos and video clips wirelessly only have to place their devices on top of the CMS - no drivers or software installation is required.

The CMS, which currently only works with Canon products, will also charge the devices wirelessly using a technology called magnetic resonance. It can charge up to three devices simultaneously.

It will also be able to wirelessly output to any printer that supports the PictBridge standard, and will work with any device that supports the DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) compatibility protocols.

For instance, when a Canon camera is placed on the CMS, it will automatically recognise the camera and start recharging it. At the same time, the station will also download photos and videos from the camera, and users will be able to browse them on a HDTV.

Megapixel race

For enjoying content that goes beyond HD, Canon is working on 4K displays that have 4x the resolution of 1080p displays on the market now.

The technology that makes this possible is called surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) which uses nanoscopic-scale emitters to fire up coloured phospors to produce an image.

The nanoscopic-scale emitters are basically a very tiny version of cathode ray tubes (CRTs) - like the ones used in the old non-flatscreen TVs – and are arranged in a matrix to form the basic RGB (red, green, blue) subpixels.

SUPER CLEAR: For enjoying content that go beyond HD, Canon is working on displays that have 4x the resolution of 1080p HDTVs.

SEDs have all the advantages of a CRTs such as a wide colour gamut, good viewing angles, very fast frame rates and reliability. But unlike CRTs they are as compact as LCDs and use very little power.

However, Canon has ceased developing the technology for the consumer market at the moment and is focusing its efforts on making them for industrial use. The displays are expected to be used by professionals for image quality management for CGI (computer-generated imagery) and video production for broadcasting, as well as for medical devices.

Consumers will also get to enjoy 4K movies in theatres. Canon has combined four HD projectors to form a 4K image. It used four units of its WUX4000 projectors with WUXGA resolution (1,920 x 1,200-pixels), arranged in a two-by-two configuration to form the 4K image. Because each projector has a slightly higher resolution than full HD (1,920 x 1,080-pixels), a blending process is applied to stitch the four images to form a large seamless one.

Virtual reality

Another technology in the works in Canon's labs is called Mixed Reality (MR) which as the name suggests, seamlessly intergrates the virtual world with the real one in real-time.

PRIVATE PLAY: Visitors toying with with MR devices. Only they can see the virtual objects they are manipulating in real time.

This technology, which Canon has been working on since 1997 with other partners, requires the user to wear a head-mounted display which uses precise location technology to syncronise the virtual and real images.

In addition to its application in manufacturing, MR will be widely used in many other areas such as healthcare, education and entertainment, the company said.

Source: Tech Central

Computer tech installed peeping software

2011-06-09T14:44:00.001+08:00

FULLERTON (California): A Southern California computer repairman suspected of installing spyware on laptops that enabled him to snap and download photographs of women showering and undressing in their homes has been arrested by police.

VOYEUR: Police say Harwell installed spyware on laptops that enabled him to snap and download photographs of women showering and undressing in their homes. - AP

Police began investigating when a Fullerton resident complained about suspicious messages appearing on his daughter's computer last year. Trevor Harwell installed software that took control of computer webcams on his clients' Mac laptops, Fullerton police Sgt Andrew Goodrich said.

The software sent fake error messages telling users to "fix their internal sensor soon," and "try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor," Goodrich said.
The error message prompted some victims to take their laptops into the bathroom with them when they showered, he said.

"Once he had access, he would take photographs of the users, usually women," Goodrich said. "Often, the female victims were undressed or changing clothes. Harwell then stored the photos on a remote server, and eventually downloaded them on his own computer."

Detectives seized hundreds of thousands of still images and videos from Harwell's computer and identified several victims, Goodrich said.

Investigators believe Harwell, a technician for Rezitech Inc, may have exploited computers connected to Biola University's internal network. Harwell, 20, is a former student at the La Mirada Christian college, where many of the victims attended.

Orange County Superior Court records show that Harwell faces 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud, The Orange County Register reported. It wasn't known on Wednesday evening if Harwell had obtained an attorney. - AP

Source: Tech Central

Sims' game coming to Facebook

2011-06-09T14:38:00.001+08:00

LOS ANGELES: Major videogame publisher Electronic Arts Inc is bringing its popular The Sims roleplaying game to Facebook.

EA made the announcement on the sidelines of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the videogame industry's annual conference, known as E3.

The move for the maker of major shoot-'em-up console games highlights the explosive growth of games like Zynga Inc's FarmVille.

EA expects most of the growth in the global gaming industry next year to come over digitally delivered games. It says about US$2bil (RM6bil) is now spent on so-called social games annually.

Sims players on Facebook will be motivated through creating rivalries, friendship and romance. In-game micro-transactions are expected to generate revenue.

EA did not give a release date but said it has been developing the game for about a year. - AP.

Source: Tech Central

Xooming in on Honeycomb

2011-06-09T14:06:00.007+08:00

The first Android 3.0 Tablet computer is here. Will the Motorola Xoom be able to take on the iPad 2?

THE Motorola Xoom has the distinction of being the first "true" Android Tablet to be released this year. It's the first to be powered by Google's native Tablet operating system, Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb.

Since last year, smartphone makers have attempted to make Android Tablets that ranged from 5in to 7in in size. However, many of the attempts felt half-baked as they were nothing more than oversized devices running on a smartphone OS.

So, is the Xoom the next stage of the Tablet evolution? Is it the iPad killer that many expect it to be? Read on to find out.

Design

Aesthetically, the Xoom bears a slight resemblance to the iPad 2 in shape and design although it is a tad longer because of its slightly larger 10.1in (1,280 x 800-pixel resolution) touchscreen. The back is also more curved than the iPad.

The widescreen is great for watching movies but its width makes it feel unwieldy to hold and perform actions like typing on it.

Nonetheless, the display looks nice, crisp and reasonably bright although the colours aren't as vivid as the iPad 2's.

Strangely the screen has an unnatural blue tint when compared to another Android Tablet, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer.

Also, we found the auto-brightness option a bit extreme - the device dims the screen so much that it's too dim to use sometimes.

On the bright side, even though it isn't an IPS panel, the Tablet still has decent viewing angles.

The Xoom's design is minimalistic with almost no buttons at all on the device save for the power button located on the back (a rather odd place in our opinion) and volume adjustment buttons on the left side of the Tablet.

On the back you'll also find a 5-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash. The speakers are also located here and they are pretty loud. There's also a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video chats.

FUNCTIONAL: The back of the Tablet may look plain but it has two built-in speakers and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash.

At the top there are slots for SIM and microSD cards. The review unit is a WiFi-only model, so the SIM card slot doesn't actually work. Currently the 3G/LTE and WiFi model is only available in the United States.

Strangely, the Xoom's microSD slot is also not usable. There is a tiny plastic placeholder in the slot that says the slot will only be activated in a future firmware update.

Still, the 32GB of built-in storage should be sufficient for everyday use.

At the bottom, there is also a mini HDMI jack for mirroring images on a larger screen, a micro USB port and charging port. A charging dock is also available for the Xoom but it's sold separately.

The overall build quality is pretty good and the Tablet felt solid. It weighs 708g which is not too bad but it may strain your hand if you're holding the Tablet for extended periods of time.

User interface

What makes the Xoom special is Android 3.0 and Motorola hasn't decked out the OS with any custom interfaces, so what you get is Honeycomb in its purest and unadulterated form.

The Honeycomb interface will be both familiar and foreign to Android users because it features a lot of changes.

Possibly the biggest change is that there are no physical buttons unlike the Android phones which have Back and Home buttons.

Instead, the Xoom uses virtual buttons located on the lower left corner of the screen.

Also, there isn't a menu bar at the top for you to drag down to show notifications.

The options for WiFi, battery status and clock are now tucked away in the corner of the screen.

ODD: We found it strange that Motorola chose to locate the power button on the back of the device.

What feels familiar are the multiple homescreens (you can have up to five) that you can populate with applications and widgets.

Adding applications to the homescreen is quite intuitive and easy as all you have to do is drag the widgets and apps to the homescreen of your choice.

Multitasking is also present on the Xoom although you can only switch between the last five applications you've launched.

Not surprisingly, the Tablet's preinstalled programs mostly consist of apps for accessing Google services such as Gmail, Maps, Gtalk, Voice Search and YouTube.

Sadly, the Xoom is really lacking in applications because at the moment there aren't many apps optimised for the Honeycomb on the Marketplace.

Another sore point - it doesn't come with Flash preinstalled out of the box, a feature that has been trumpeted as one of the Xoom's key selling points.

What's even worse is that we couldn't download Flash - a free app, mind you - from the Android Marketplace because it's currently not available for this region.

We were greeted with the same message when we tried to download many other free applications.
At the moment we are not sure what is the reason behind this. However, Google is working with the Android device manufacturers to rectify the issue.

Still, it's very disappointing that early adopters of Android 3.0 devices will not be able to install many new apps for their new toy.

Performance

The Xoom's dual-core Tegra 2 processor and generous amount of memory (1GB RAM) give it enough firepower to cope with most tasks.

The Tablet was generally responsive and applications loaded really fast.

We ran the Quadrant Benchmark and the Xoom pretty much blew every other Android device out of the water. However, the comparison is a little unfair because the other devices were all smartphones.

Web browsing using Chrome on the Xoom was really smooth - pages loaded really quickly and sometimes faster than the iPad 2. Chrome supports tabbed browsing but the features are pretty basic.

Also, typing on the virtual keyboard isn't so bad considering that the default Android smartphone keyboard wasn't that great. The one on the Android 3.0 is a marked improvement.

The Xoom has a 5-megapixel autofocus camera on the back which is good enough for taking casual shots but we wouldn't recommend it for anything other than that.

IN USE: Web browsing on the Xoom is fast and smooth, however it is a shame doesn't have out-of-the-box support for Flash.

Pictures shot in dimly-lit areas looked horribly grainy, so this camera is best suited for places with proper lighting.

The dual-LED flash is handy in areas with insufficient light but it's far more useful as a light source for HD video recording.

Speaking of videos, the Xoom produced passable HD videos but a compact camera with HD video recording capability will easily fare better.

The only real benefit to shooting videos on the Xoom is that you can edit them directly with the preinstalled Movie Studio app. Although it works similar to iMovie on the iPad 2, it doesn't run as smoothly or perform as well.

The Xoom's video player only supports a few formats such as MP4, H.263 and H.264.

It can't play most common formats such as AVI, MKV, MOV, AVHCD which is a shame because it is quite a hassle to transcode movies into a compatible format.

We converted a 720p HD movie in MKV format to MP4 using Handbrake on a Mac to play it on the Tablet's video player.

The playback started fine but after awhile the player started to drop frames and the performance was erratic. The frame drops increased for scenes with a lot of action.

In terms of battery life, the Xoom fared fairly. With average use for web surfing and watching a video or two, the device lasted between eight to nine hours.

Conclusion

The Android platform has a large following and Motorola is quick to take advantage of it with a proper Android Tablet computer.

Also, the much talked about Honeycomb OS is well designed for the Tablet. It has a slick interface for managing applications and widgets, and it's great for surfing the Web.

IN A ROW: On the bottom you'll find a micro USB, mini HDMI, dock connector for the optional accessory and a tiny charging port.

Unfortunately, the Motorola Xoom feels like a rushed product and not everything is in place yet. For example, even though it has a microSD slot, you won't be able to use it until it gets activated in the next firmware update.

But the biggest detractor is the lack of apps optimised for the Tablet and this is made worse by fact that the Android Marketplace is not fully working at the moment. It looks like the Xoom has a way to go before it can match the iPad 2. We recommend waiting until Google sorts out the issues with the Android Marketplace.

Overall, the Motorola Xoom is a decent Android Tablet that needs a bit of time for the platform to mature first.

Pros: Android 3.0, Chrome is fast; dual-LED flash useful for video recording; large 10.1in screen.

Cons: A tad heavy; MicroSD slot needs firmware update to work; Android Marketplace issues; pricey.

Xoom (Motorola)

Android Tablet computer

PROCESSOR: 1GHz ARM Cotex-A9 dual-core chip (nVidia Tegra 2)
MEMORY: 1GB RAM
DISPLAY: 10in (1,280 x 800-pixels) touchscreen
GRAPHICS: Ultra-low power GeForce GPU (nVidia Tegra 2)
STORAGE: 32GB
CONNECTIVITY: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1
PORTS/SLOTS: Headphone jack, micro HDMI out, micro USB
OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 3.0 (Honeycomb)
OTHER FEATURES: 5-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, 2-megapixel front-facing camera
DIMENSIONS (W x D x H): 167.8 x 12.9x 249.1mm
WEIGHT: 708g
PRICE: RM2,099
RATING: 3

Review unit courtesy of Brightstar Distribution Sdn Bhd, (03) 7960-4877.

Source: Tech Central

Microsoft Unveils New Kinect-Supporting Games At E3

2011-06-08T20:06:00.002+08:00

Microsoft will release new titles like "Halo 4" and "Minecraft" for Xbox 360/Kinect; Certain Kinect titles and the Xbox 360 dashboard can be controlled with voice recognition

Microsoft's keynote at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has revealed new video game titles for Xbox 360 and Kinect as well as a range of new features that will allow users to control their gameplay like never before.

Microsoft is an American public multinational corporation that develops, manufactures and supports computing-relating products and services'. It was established in 1975, and is well-known for its computer operating system Microsoft Windows, its video game consoles Xbox and Xbox 360 as well as Kinect, its mobile Windows Phone OS, and digital services like Zune and MSN.

At E3, an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry where video game developers show off their upcoming games and hardware, Microsoft began its keynote with a live demo of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3." The demo portrayed an underwater mission led by a SEAL in a submarine. New York is in ruins, and at the end of the demo, Glen Schofield, head of Activision Blizzard's Sledgehammer games announced the game's release on November 8.

Don Mattrick, head of the games business at Microsoft, then introduced more games like the new "Tomb Raider." A demo played, showing a younger Lara Croft hanging upside down in an underground cave. Lara looks more modern, and the game's environment looks uncharted. She must escape the cave and a stranger who is pursuing her, and as she escapes, everything is collapsing around her. She is stuck on an island, and attempts to survive her first "coming of age" adventure. The game will be released in 2012.

Peter Moore of Electronic Arts (EA) then announced the upcoming release of EA titles for Microsoft's Kinect, such as "FIFA," "Madden NFL," "Tiger Woods PGA Tour," and one additional title yet to be announced.

Next up was Ray Muzyka of EA's BioWare division, who not only discussed "Mass Effect 3," but also introduced a new voice recognition feature for Kinect. This allows the user to issue voice commands with or instead of a controller during gameplay. A player can control Commander Shepard with a Xbox 360 controller while using voice commands to attack enemies. It is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012.

Yves Guillemot, chief executive of Ubisoft, came on stage next after a demo of "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier" aired. Voice recognition through Kinect will allow the user to create a custom weapon in the game's menu system. A player can say "optimize for close combat" or "optimize for range," and the weapon will be reconfigured. User's can also shoot using hand motion on Kinect. According to Guillemot, all Tom Clancy games will use Kinect from now on.

Marc Whitten of Xbox Live announced that Kinect can be used to control the Xbox 360 dashboard. A user can say "Xbox Games," and the games menu on the dashboard will appear. In addition, YouTube will soon come to Xbox Live, and Bing voice search will be available on Kinect. Microsoft plans to increase the number of partners by a factor of 10, "and the number of content will go from hundreds of thousands to millions."

A clip from "UFC Undisputed" played next, followed by Epic Games' Cliff Blezinski who introduced "Gears of War 3." Blezinski was joined by rapper Ice T on stage, where they played a level of the game that takes place two years after the end of "Gears of War 2." Marcus, Dom and others fled to a ship for safety, but are attacked by a large sea monster. Jacinto doesn't make it to the ship.

Crytek then announced "Ryse," which is a game of Roman warfare that will be linked to Kinect and will allow players to fight with their hands.

Other games set to be released for Xbox 360/Kinect are "Fable: The Journey," "Minecraft," "Disneyland Adventures," "Star Wars Kinect," and "Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster" Other new Xbox 360/Kinect titles are a new Kinect Sports game called "Kinect Sports: Season Two," which can be played using voice commands, and MTV's "Dance Central 2," which will feature 100 new pop dance songs.

Kinect Fun Labs, a new feature for Kinect, was announced by Kudo Tsunoda. This feature allows users to take a picture of themselves, and it will generate an avatar that mimics what you look like as well as your clothes. A different app allows you to make finger movements that will draw light sparkles on the screen.

Perhaps the most anticipated Microsoft news was the announcement of "Halo 4," which is the first installment in a brand new "Halo" trilogy. Other "Halo" news includes the release of "Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary," which is a remake of the original from 2001 and will be available November 15.

Source: Daily Tech

A new Wii for U and me

2011-06-08T15:14:00.005+08:00

LOS ANGELES: Nintendo has unveiled its highly anticipated next-generation console, the Wii U. The new device will be capable of playing games in high definition (HD) - finally coming on par with the rival Xbox 360 and PlayStation3.

What is most surprising about the U is the new controller that comes with it. It's a hefty rectangular device with a large 6.2in touchscreen in the centre, looking like a Tablet computer.

Fortunately, you won't be swinging it around like the existing Wii remote; instead it will have the traditional assortment of buttons and dual analogue sticks for game control. And the new controller will also feature a tilt-sensitive gyroscope and built-in microphone.

The U will be able to output HD visuals to both a TV and the screen on its controller, and at the same time. This opens up lot of possibilities for different kinds of game-playing experiences with the controller.

Most importantly, you won't be tied down to playing games on the TV; you will be able to play games on the go by taking the controller with you.

Nintendo demonstrated several new games for the U. The first is Chase Mii, a four-player hide-and-seek game where one player needs to hide from the rest within a maze. The three pursuers will need to co-operate and co-ordinate their searches to find the first player. On a whole, the game sort of plays like a game of Pac-Man, but with Mario-style visuals.

Another is Battle Mii, a third-person shooter for three players. In this one, two players in space suits team up against another that's in a gunship. Again, co-operation and communication is key if the two suited players are to successfully defeat their opponent.

But what got the crowd really excited at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here, the gaming industry's annual convention, was the Legend of Zelda game for the U.

It is Zelda like you've never seen it before, with glorious high-definition images and stunning detail, as well as dynamic lighting.

Sadly though, it was only a demonstration and not an actual release of the game. Also, the visuals were definitely a nod to recent Zelda titles, such as Twilight Princess.

Other games planned for the U include Assassin's Creed, Tekken, Ninja Gaiden and Darksiders 2.

The console is set to make its debut in the marketplace between April and December next year.

Source: Tech Central

TuneTalk now offers BlackBerry services

2011-06-08T15:07:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Tune Talk is the latest mobile service operator to jump on the BlackBerry bandwagon with prepaid plans which it claims offers the lowest rates in town.

An unlimited BlackBerry Internet Services (BIS) plan can be subscribed for only 98sen per day on a daily basis or users can pay RM28 to subscribe for a whole month. Otherwise, if all you need are access to BlackBerry Messenger and Instant Messaging features, users can subscribe to the related BIM package which costs only 38sen per day or RM11 per month.

To activate any of the BIS or BIM plans, all a user needs to do is send a subscription message to Tune Talk.

According to the company's CEO Jason Lo, the rollout of the BlackBerry services are part of its endeavour to not only meet, but surpass its user's needs and expectations.

"It's about giving our subscribers more options and the best deals in town," he said.

As it is, he claimed that the company is already offering the lowest flat call rates, SMS and data charges; not to mention automatic personal accident coverage and free flight seats via Tune Talk Points for AirAsia Flights.

"No other service provider gives you points for topping up," he added.

Tune Talk charges a flat rate of 16sen per minute for calls to any mobile or fixed-line operator in Malaysia, while an SMS costs 5sen each. Data usage, on the other hand, is charged 5sen per 1MB while its IDD rates are around 10% to 30% cheaper than other operators, Tune Talk claimed.
Tune Talk operates as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) riding on Celcom Axiata Berhad's network.

Source: Tech Central

iOS gets a major revamp

2011-06-08T15:00:00.002+08:00

IT'S hard to keep a good man down, as an evidently thinner Steve Jobs proved as he appeared on stage at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) to introduce what the company has in store for its MacOS and iOS offerings.

Probably the most interesting new announcement is that of iOS 5, the update to the operating system that powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

With iOS 5, Apple has added over 200 new features into the mobile operating system, some of which are tweaks while others are completely new applications.

Also announced was the demise of Apple's MobileMe service - it has now morphed into a more extensive and powerful service known as iCloud.

Here's a rundown of what iOS 5, and iCloud will have on offer when iOS 5 (and consequently iCloud) becomes available at the end of the year.

iOS5

Being a major update (rather than a point update), Apple has brought many new features to iOS 5 as well as tweaked almost every single application in its mobile operating system.
Chief amongst these new features is the Notification Centre which aims to update the one currently found in iOS devices.

In the current version of iOS, notifications appear as a pop-up which can be a nuisance since it pauses your currently running app and overlays the notification over whatever you're doing.

The other problem is that there is no single place where you can view and dismiss all these various notifications on your various apps.

The Notification Centre attempts to solve this by introducing a system similar to what is currently available on Google's Android operating system - a swipe downwards from the top of the screen opens the Notification Centre, where all your various notifications (be it SMS, Facebook updates, Twitter etc) will be nested together along with stocks and weather information.

If the user is currently running an app, the notification will not pause a running app - instead a less obtrusive notification will appear across the top of the screen, which can then be easily dismissed.

iOS 5 will also integrate Twitter into the entire operating system, allowing you to easily tweet photos, videos and even webpages from within native iOS apps.

Apps like Safari and Photos, for example, will come with a Tweet option so that you can immediately link webpages or share photos on Twitter.

More importantly, iOS 5 will have a feature which should be familiar to Android device users - incremental over-the-air (OTA) updates, which means that operating system (and even third-party app) updates will no longer require you to link to iTunes.

With the current version of iOS, third-party apps can be updated over the air, but operating system updates still require a connection to iTunes.

Taking it even further, iOS 5 device buyers in the future will no longer need to unlock a new device by first connecting to iTunes - activation and setup can be completed on the iOS 5 device itself.

Apple has also finally included a much-requested feature - WiFi synchronising with iTunes so that a user will not be required to cable the device to the PC when synchronising and backing up the iOS 5 device.

Updated apps

Apart from the many updates to the operating system, Apple has also worked to update many of the standard apps in the iOS as well as adding a few new ones.

Most notable among the changes is in Safari, where quick tabbed browsing will now be available as well as a new Reader and Reading List feature.

Tapping the Reader button in Safari will remove distractions and ads from the webpage and present the whole story in a single, scrolling page.

Even if the story is on multiple webpages, Reader will take the all the pages and present it in a single page - for example, a DPReview.com camera review which usually takes up 20 webpages can be viewed in a single, down-scrolling and properly formatted page.

Adding webpages to Reading List in Safari copies the web content so you can read it later offline. Reading List also syncs with all your other iOS 5 devices and remembers your place in the page so you can read it later on other devices.

The Camera app has also been updated with some basic editing features as well as better control over exposure by integrating an autofocus- and autoexposure-lock via a tap-and-hold gesture.

More importantly, the Camera app is now more accessible with a button on the Lock screen, allowing the user to get right into taking photos without first having to unlock the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch and going into the app.

In an apparent backpedal from their previous policy, Apple has also allowed the taking of photos by pressing the "+" volume button on the iPhone.

Apple has in the past disallowed third-party apps from providing just such a feature.

Mail has also been tweaked and amongst other things allows addresses to be dragged from CC to BCC fields as well as supporting rich text formatting and better searching.

The previously barebones Game Centre has been updated to be more in line with the features of Xbox Live and now users can see photos, compare achievement points, see friends of friends, get friend- and even game-recommendations.

New apps

iOS 5 brings a number of new apps as well, most notably iMessage, which is a messaging app similar to RIM's BlackBerry Messenger.

iMessage allows users to send text messages, photos and videos to all iOS 5 devices from iPad to iPhone over WiFi and 3G.

Unlike third-party apps like WhatsApp which works across mobile operating systems, however, iMessage only works between iOS devices.

A To-Do list app has also been added in the form of Reminders which allow the user to make simple task lists.

A nifty feature of Reminders is that you can create To-do items that will pop-up when a user is near a certain area - nothing which isn't already available in advanced third party To-do apps, but now it's integrated in there for free.

iCloud

Jobs himself came back onstage to introduce the iCloud, a major revamp of Apple's previous MobileMe. Apple has dumped the expensive pricing structure of MobileMe and will be making iCloud available to all iOS 5 users for free.

At its most basic, iCloud offers automatic backup and sync of contacts, calendar and e-mail across all the user's iOS devices.

To get contacts, calendar items and email automatically synced to a new device, the user only needs to put in an Apple username and password.

Users can even share multiple calendars with different people and have it automatically synched and pushed to multiple devices.

However, Apple's plans for iCloud are more ambitious - each user gets 5GB of storage and the ability to backup and sync more than just contacts, calendars and e-mail.
The iBooks and App Store have also been added to iCloud, allowing the user to sync bookmarks between iBook apps across devices.

The App Store's update now allows you to see all your available purchases on any iOS device even if you don't currently have it installed on the device.

In fact, users can already see the App Store iCloud update in current iOS 4.3.3 devices when you go into the App Store and tap on Updates and then Purchased.

One last major update is the Backup service on iCloud - each iOS device can be set to automatically backup data to iCloud daily over WiFi.

iCloud backs up the user's Camera Roll (photos and videos), device settings, purchased music, apps, app data and books so that they can be easily synched and pushed to different devices, including the Mac or PC.

Additionally, iWork for iOS documents (Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps) will also be automatically be backed up into the iCloud.

Although 5GB may not seem like much for this, the service does not actually back up purchased music on iTunes, books on iBooks or apps from the App Store since Apple already hosts these.

Instead, iCloud just takes note of what books, music and apps you've purchased and allows you to download them again on different devices for no charge. Of course, since users in Malaysia still can't officially purchase music via iTunes nor buy books in iBooks, this particular feature will likely not be available here.

Additionally, the Photos app now comes with Photo Stream, an iCloud service that allows you to store photos and syncs them across multiple devices including the PC and Mac.

Source: Tech Central

Sony unveils next-gen portable device 'Vita'

2011-06-08T14:53:00.001+08:00

LOS ANGELES: Sony Corp took the wraps off its next generation portable gaming machine, the PlayStation Vita, a touch-interface and motion-sensitive handheld that outdoes its workhorse PlayStation Portable and will go on sale before the winter holidays.

Company executives have called the device Sony's biggest product launch since the PlayStation3 five years ago.

The device will allow gamers to be connected with one other over cellphone networks and WiFi hotspots, and use GPS location-tracking technology. In the United States, Sony is partnering exclusively with AT&T Inc for cellphone service.

The device, available for US$249 (RM747) for the WiFi-only version, was unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the videogame industry's annual convention known as E3. A version that will also have cellphone service will retail for US$299 (RM897), and buyers will have to subscribe to a cellular data plan.

The handheld has front and back cameras, a touchscreen in front, a touchpad on the back and two knob-like joysticks. It will enable gamers to play against people using PlayStation3 consoles over the Internet-based PlayStation Network, a system that was recently restored after being shut down due to a massive hacking attack.

The hardware comes with an accelerometer, which means it will also react to being held at different angles and being moved through the air.

"PlayStation Vita will revolutionise the portable entertainment experience," said Kazuo Hirai, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The whole world is really in play."

The Vita is slightly bigger than the PlayStation Portable, which has sold more than 70 million units worldwide since its launch in 2004. The PSP will continue to be sold along with new games.
But the Vita will enable gamers to do more.

A Sony staffer demonstrated a version of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, in which he used the familiar buttons and knobs but also touched the screen to move the Drake avatar across ledges and attack opponents in close combat.

Another game called Reality Fighters will allow users to take a picture and have fighting characters battle each other using objects from the real world.

Along with social games and email, Sony also unveiled a communication service it called "Party" that will enable voice and text chat during games or when using the web browser.

Users will also be able to sense when other gamers are nearby, what games they have played recently, and enable in-game gifting of virtual items. - AP

Source: Tech Central

Upgrade for MyKad

2011-06-08T13:01:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: The MyKad will be more durable and of better quality after a scheduled upgrade in July, said the Home Ministry.

“We are taking the matter very seriously and will ensure that the chip's quality is improved,” Deputy Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop said in an interview.

It had been reported last week that chip failure was the main cause of MyKad replacements in the country.

The department had confirmed that 1,018,698 of the 2,158,621 applications for MyKad replacements received last year were due to faulty chips.

“The smart chip contains complex electrical and wiring components, which are sensitive to stress, heat and humidity,” its director-general Datuk Alwi Ibrahim said in a statement yesterday, adding that the department had requested that the vendor conduct continuous research and development on the chip's durability.

He said the department had also instructed the vendor to upgrade the chips with new mould designs and stronger wire bonding.

“Reliability tests will be conducted on the new chips,” Alwi said, adding that a semi-conductor specialist has been hired to solve the problem.

Source: The Star Online

After losing her man, clerk may now lose her breasts

2011-06-08T12:50:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: A clerk who lost her boyfriend after a procedure to enlarge her breasts went awry may now lose these as well.

The 30-year-old woman, known only as Tham, said the procedure had left her with severe infections and itchiness on her breasts.

Tham, who is from Pahang, said she visited a surgeon here two months ago for the procedure as she had wanted to surprise her boyfriend of five years with larger breasts.

“My boyfriend always told me that he wished I was thinner and had bigger breasts,” she said.

However, he left her soon after the surgery. “He was angry because I had spent so much money on the surgery,” she said, adding that the ex-boyfriend was also uncomfortable with the wounds on her body after the procedure.

Tham had borrowed RM13,000 from her father to pay for the procedure.

“The surgeon told me he would remove the fat from my hip and waist, and transfer this to my breasts.

“A week after the surgery, there was pus oozing out from where he had injected the fat,” said Tham.

She added that she had been conscious throughout the painful two-hour ordeal because the surgeon claimed he was not licensed to anesthetise her.

“My breast area also became swollen and turned black,” she said.

When Tham went back to the clinic, the surgeon had offered to re-do the entire procedure.

“I decided to consult a skin specialist instead,” said Tham who is now undergoing treatment for her injuries.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said he would engage a lawyer to fight Tham's case.

“We believe that the surgeon is not licensed,” he said, adding that the man, who operates at a clinic near a major shopping centre here, had refused to compensate Tham for his mistake.

He urged women who chose to go for cosmetic or plastic surgery to only consult licensed doctors.

“This will reduce the risks of having such side effects,” he said.

Chong also said he would check with the Health Ministry to determine if surgeries transferring fat from the abdomen to the breasts were legal.

The department had received 12 such cases since 2009.

Source: The Star Online

Price portal for smart consumers to check on retail offerings

2011-06-08T12:35:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Consumers can now check and compare prices of products sold at 1,255 retail outlets nationwide by clicking on the 1Malaysia Pengguna Bijak (1MPB) portal.

The prices of products will be monitored and updated daily by 1,200 price watch officers from the Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry.

“This is to ensure that all participating outlets sell their products at reasonable prices,” minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said the price list comprised 355 consumer products sold at 110 hypermarkets, 100 products at 404 supermarkets, 50 products at 360 wet markets and 100 products at 24-hour convenience stores.

The products range from fresh produce like eggs, fish, meat and vegetables; dried goods such as anchovies, flour, rice, sugar; to other essentials like baby formula, diapers, soap and toothpaste.

“Hypermarkets will key in the data on changes in their daily price lists.

“However, for other outlets, the price watch officers will do it,” he told reporters after launching the portal here yesterday.

Developed at a cost of RM1.4mil, the portal can be browsed at www.1pengguna.com.

Ismail Sabri said consumers could also file complaints with the Malaysian Consumer Claims Tribunal through a link provided in the portal.

In his speech, he said the public would be able to get first-hand information on changes in the price of a variety of consumer products nationwide through the 1MPB portal.

Fomca secretary-general Muhd Sha'ani Abdullah said consumers would benefit greatly from the portal.

“The ministry should make this information available not only on the Internet, but also through mobile phones via SMS, because not everyone has access to the Internet,” he said.

“It is a harder job for hypermarkets like us to enter prices daily,” Giant hypermarket marketing manager Ho Mun Hao said, adding that the company would still be happy to do all it could to help consumers.

Source; The Star Online

World Ocean Day

2011-06-08T12:22:00.004+08:00

World Ocean Day is unofficial celebrated every June 8 since year 1992 by Canada at Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was officially recognized in year 2008 by United Nation. Since it is coordinated internationally by The Ocean Project and with greater success and global participation every year.

World Ocean Day is an opportunity to honor the ocean for providing us natural creation such as seafood, as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value.

The Ocean Project recently launched a new site for WOD 2011 (http://www.worldoceanday.org).

The World Oceans Day 2011 & 2012 theme is Youth: the Next Wave for Change. World Ocean Day - The Ocean Project.

The aim is to challenge participants to view ocean protection as a way of life, with a special emphasis around World Oceans Day each year.

This focus on youth is based on market research by The Ocean Project and others which clearly shows that youth are the most promising members of the public to reach out to if you want to effect lasting change.

Young people are the most knowledgeable and motivated segment of the population when it comes to the environment and its protection. Youth generally have the free time, familiarity with current issues, and the motivation to go out of their way to take environmental actions. Furthermore, the research shows that parents are increasingly looking to their tween and teenage (i.e. ages 12-17) children for information and advice on these issues.

We hope that event organizers will make a concerted effort to reach out to and collaborate with young people, helping inspire them to care for our world’s ocean, now and throughout their lives.

Source: Wikipedia

Simple Life @ Sunway Pyramid

2011-06-07T23:26:00.008+08:00

If you are looking for vegetarian restaurant around Sunway, you must try Simple Life vegetarian restaurant in Sunway Pyramid LG2, Blue Atrium. It's newly opened on 17 May 2011, same day with Wesak Day. The place is nice and simple, clean design.

Main Entrance

Clean Interior

Tree design on wall

Simple menu design

Eat right with colour

Organic Black Bean Soup with Beehoon

Seaweed Fried Rice

Japanese Vege Egg Roll

Fresh Mixed Fruits + Vege

(Apple, Carrot, Tomato, Honey)

Lemon Tea (Imported from USA)

* Not sure the lemon is imported from USA or the lemon tea is imported from USA

There are varieties of foods, appetizers, drinks for you to choose. The staffs are friendly too. You can join their member to get a free T-shirt, 10% discount for every visit and exchange meal for free if you get full 5 ticks on the card given. If you celebrate birthday in their restaurant, you can even get 20% discount. Pay a visit to try the foods yourself, you may like it.

Simple Life
LG2-126A, Blue Atrium,
Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall.
Tel: +603.5611.8567, +6012.236.5423

Taylor Swift - The Story of Us

2011-06-06T21:31:00.002+08:00

17 Year Old Sells Kidney to Buy an iPad 2!

2011-06-06T19:41:00.001+08:00

Shocking news from the web. A 17-year-old Apple fan sold his Kidney to buy iPad 2. According to Global Times this kid from China had one of his kidneys removed to be able to afford an iPad 2. This guy named "Zheng" contacted an online human parts dealer and sold his kidney for 20,000 yuan equivalent to. The boy wanted Apple's second generation tablet so badly that he could even part away with one of his body's vital organs.

According to Shanghai Daily, Zheng went to Chenzhou City in neighboring Hunan Province on April 28th for the kidney removal surgery arranged by the broker. His parents knew nothing about it. Now this guys health is deteriorating day by day, but it's too late to step back. Zheng's parents got suspicious when his health started to decline. When the police were contacted for investigation, the broker has already fled and his number could not be found. The hospital where the operation took place is not qualified either to do kidney removal and transplants. Investigations are on.

Source: iPhone 4 Jailbreak

Aftershock rocks quake-hit NZ city of Christchurch

2011-06-06T13:49:00.000+08:00

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP): An aftershock has rattled buildings in the earthquake-ravaged city of Christchurch, New Zealand. No serious damage or injuries have been reported.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 5.5-magnitude quake struck Monday 14 miles (22 kilometers) west of Christchurch at a depth of just under 2 miles (3 kilometers).

Christchurch has been rocked by scores of aftershocks since a devastating earthquake struck the city in February, killing 181 people. The February quake was New Zealand's most expensive natural disaster, costing an estimated $15 billion.

Monday's quake knocked items off store shelves, but officials say there have been no reports of serious damage or injuries.

Source: The Star Online

Dirty pictures found pasted in prayer books

2011-06-06T13:44:00.000+08:00

A STASH of pornographic pictures were found neatly taped inside more than 20 prayer books in a mosque in Penang, Sinar Harian reported.

The pictures, which featured a foreign couple performing various sexual acts, were placed inside 21 copies of the Yassin meant for the male congregation, the report said.

According to the report, the pictures were discovered just as 75 men and 25 women were about to begin the Yassin recital ceremony at the At-Takwa mosque in Kepala Batas on Saturday.

The pictures were not found in copies allocated for women.

The mosque’s qariah (congregation) secretary Abdul Rahman Abdullah told the paper the pictures were of the same size and neatly pasted on the books using double-sided tape.

“This shows that the perpetrators had planned their misdeed in detail and spent a lot of time to stick the pictures,” he said, adding that the pictures were believed to have been downloaded from the Internet.

The mosque committee has lodged a police report.

> Metro Ahad, meanwhile, front-paged a story about a teenager who had sex five times a week.

She had been bringing boys home to satisfy her lust since she was 14.

The girl, who is now 16 and pregnant, had slept with at least eight boys during that two-year period at various places.

The girl admitted that she had sex at various locations, including her grandmother’s house as she stayed alone with her.

“At other times, we do it at my boyfriend’s house when his parents are not in,” she told the daily.

According to the report, the girl skipped school often and frequently changed partners and had sex with her close friends.

“When I do not like a guy, I just find another. It is easy to get a new guy especially when I offer myself to them,” she added.

Source: The Star Online

WHO: Rate of donation in Malaysia among lowest in the world

2011-06-06T13:36:00.000+08:00

GEORGE TOWN: The rate of organ donation in the country, at 0.6 per million population, is among the lowest in the world, according to a 2010 World Health Organisation (WHO) report.

Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said the rate showed that only 17 people in Malaysia’s population of 28 million had actually donated their organs or tissues in 2009.

She said the rate was a far cry in comparison with developed nations like Spain, Britain and Australia.

“Only 322 Malaysians have donated either their organs or tissues since 1975 after their deaths.

“There is a sharp contrast between us and other developed nations. Spain leads the list with 34.3 per million population being organ donors.

“We need to create awareness among Malaysians on the importance of donating organs,” she said during a press conference at a hotel in Batu Feringghi yesterday.

Rosnah had earlier flagged off a beach run held in conjunction with the 14th Scientific Meeting of Malaysian Society of Transplantation.

She said only 0.57%, or 165,438 Malaysians, had pledged to donate their organs and tissues.

“At the moment, there are 12,133 patients waiting for organ donations, with kidney patients topping the list at 12,100.”

Rosnah also said the number of Malaysians undergoing haemodialysis as a result of renal failure had increased threefold, from 7,837 in 2001 to 22,932 in 2010.

She cited religious and cultural subjects as the reasons why many still have the wrong perception on the issue.

“There is no issue in religion. We want to make it clear that nothing in the religion forbids organ donation. It is an act of benevolence,” she said.

The 6km run, themed “Race Against Time: Run For Life”, was meant to promote awareness on the importance of organ donation and to encourage healthy lifestyle in preventing end stage organ failures.

More than 700 participants took part in the run jointly organised by the ministry and the society at the beach near Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa.

Source: The Star Online

Clever Case Converts iPad 2 Into a Laptop

2011-06-05T22:10:00.002+08:00

What if you could turn your iPad 2 into a laptop by simply placing it in a case? That is the promise of Crux Loaded by CruxCase, a $249 clamshell enclosure that gives users a keyboard like that Logitech Keyboard Case we reviewed, but goes a step further by also offering a trackpad.

Both trackpad and keyboard communicate with the iPad wirelessly using Bluetooth, and CruxCase claims the trackpad will control the iPad 2 in the same multitouch way as the iPad’s screen. Powering that Bluetooth connection and giving the iPad’s battery a bit more longevity is an additional external battery tucked inside.

However, don’t be completely fooled by the picture above, which makes it look like you have complete PC functions with the iPad when you use this case. That’s possible, however, if you install a remote desktop app on the iPad, and CruxCase suggests Log Me in Ignition, Jump Desktop or Splashtop for that task. That won’t be as instantly responsive as a laptop would be, though, and you’ll need a fast connection with a Mac or PC to make this work.

Here’s another catch: This groundbreaking case won’t be available until Fall 2011. A lot can happen between now and then, including Apple’s possible unwillingness to allow Bluetooth to work in this way, perhaps to protect its burgeoning laptop business.

We’re thinking discussions between CruxCase and Apple are probably underway as you read this, and if this Crux Loaded case actually comes to fruition, new versatility could come to the iPad. If Apple doesn’t allow it, we can see other tablet manufacturers scurrying to welcome it to ensconce their shiny new slabs.

Source: Mashable

Voice Brief iPhone App Reads Your Facebook Feed Out Loud

2011-06-05T15:47:00.004+08:00

Voice Brief is a cool iPhone app that reads out loud whatever appears on your Facebook feed by using voice synthesis technology. The 271 megabyte text-to-speech app also works with Twitter, Gmail, the weather, your calendar, stock prices or any RSS feed. And while normally priced $3.99, it’s available for FREE for the next two hours (5 PM Pacific Time on June 2nd 2011). So grab it from the App Store asap!

Voice Brief works in the background, with Airplay and bluetooth audio, and any remote control. It comes with four voices, and can be used as an alarm so you can even wake up listening to your Facebook feed…

After you’ve downloaded the app, it will ask you to add new content:
Tap Setting > Edit content > + > (scroll down to) Facebook.
“Allow” the application.
Choose your setup: the number of posts to read and whether to include comments or not.

Source: Reface.me

Transformers 3 - Dark of the Moon Official Trailer

2011-06-04T15:48:00.002+08:00

X-Men - First Class Official Trailer

2011-06-04T15:46:00.002+08:00

New 2011 Perodua Myvi

2011-06-04T15:21:00.011+08:00

New 2011 Myvi spotted on the road for test drive recently and already announced it on TV3 yesterday (3 June 2011). Heard that it going to launch on July or September 2011. It comes with 1.3 and 1.5 litre engine.

New Perodua Myvi SE

New Perodua Myvi Standard Version

World's Biggest Angry Birds Playground

2011-06-04T14:36:00.001+08:00

Addicted to the Angry Bird? Want to create something BIG? Now you can take the challenge with others at the same time to be in a part of Guinness Book of Records! The biggest Angry Birds playground is going to held at Low Yat Plaza Boulevard Strips on 11.06.2011, 11am-9pm. The aim is to create The World’s Biggest Angry Bird Playground and you are cordially invited. Be a part of the most people playing in a mobile phone game relay event and stand a chance to win exclusive prizes from Nokia!

Check out the details here.

Firefly not imposing fuel surcharge, says MD

2011-06-04T12:19:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Despite high jet fuel prices, Firefly has reiterated that it will not impose a fuel surcharge in the near future.

Its managing director Datuk Eddy Leong said this was in line with the company’s commitment to make travel affordable.

“Firefly’s fare structure and pricing strategies have already taken into account the off-peak and high travel cycles, as well as both early bird buyers and last-minute shoppers.

“Our passengers can anticipate low fares with discounts of up to 80% or in some cases, even zero fare,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Leong added that the airline maintained high efficiency levels to keep its operating costs low so that it could offer the lowest price to customers.

“As a community airline, we offer low fares but with good value,” he added.

Source: The Star Online

Infamous sex video is on the Net – for a fee

2011-06-04T11:56:00.000+08:00

PETALING JAYA: More footage of the sex video implicating Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has surfaced on the Internet.

This time, a blog hosted on WordPress has produced links to a site where users can view the three clips for a fee.

An online portal reported yesterday that the first clip featured the same four-frame black and white video footage that was screened to journalists at Carcosa Seri Negara in Kuala Lumpur on March 21.

The latest clip is reported to have background music from the Hawaii Five-O television series as well as a dangdut tune.

Datuk T, comprising businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik and former Perkasa treasurer Shuaib Lazim, claimed that the original video clip was handed over to police on March 24.

The clip was allegedly reduced from 22 minutes to 15 minutes and three seconds long now.

“A second clip, which is 17 minutes and 59 seconds long, is a compilation of the four separate feeds in the previous video.

“A third clip, 13 minutes and 36 seconds long, is another compilation of the four feeds but with several portions in slow motion, including the part where the man is shown putting on his clothes,” the portal said.

Source: The Star Online

Widow and disabled man face eviction by state govt

2011-06-04T11:51:00.002+08:00

BUTTERWORTH: Soon to be evicted from a public housing project, widow Rokiah Md Isa cuts a pitiful sight.

The 74-year-old is worried sick about her unit being repossessed by the State Housing Department.

“I have been living here since the Taman Bagan Jaya public housing project was completed five years ago.

“My husband passed away in 2008 and the department sent me a notice in March, telling me that I cannot stay here any more.

“I was shocked. Where will I go if I’m evicted?” she said at her home here yesterday.

Rokiah, who receives RM250 wang zakat monthly, has fallen behind on her rent payments. She owes RM1,188 in arrears.

The state housing authorities issued her a letter dated March 17 to move out within 15 days. They have yet to enforce the notice.

Bagan Barisan Nasional coordinator David Chua, who was also present, urged the state government to give Rokiah and other tenants like her a chance to pay up before considering repossession of the units.

“It is not that she doesn’t want to pay but she cannot afford to. We cannot just throw her out.

“While we understand that the public housing project is not for single occupancy, Rokiah should be exempted from this rule because she was actually living here with her family before the children moved out and her husband passed away.

“If rental is the issue, give her some time to work it out,” said Chua, who is also the Bagan MCA Youth division chief.

Disabled labourer Mohd Radzi Othman, 39, was told to move out because he was married to a foreigner.

He claimed that he did not owe any rental arrears.

“I rushed to the department after receiving the eviction notice and was told that my unit would be repossessed because my wife is an Indonesian,” said the father of two who lost his arm in an accident.

Chua said Rokiah and Mohd Radzi were just two of some 20 residents who were worried about losing their flats.

On Tuesday, Penang Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the state government had repossessed 154 flat units in eight public housing projects since last year after their tenants breached the tenancy terms and conditions.

Source: The Star Online

T-Bowl Concept Restaurant @ Sunway Pyramid

2011-06-03T21:00:00.030+08:00

T-Bowl Concept Restaurant - 3rd branch located at Sunway Pyramid First Floor old wing offically opened on 08 November 2010. It is a toilet themed restaurant, all the stuffs are using what you can see in toilet, i.e. toilet bowl, urine bowl, bath tub, wash basin and etc. Even the food is served in small size toilet bowl.

This restaurant has the three main themed character named TBros which mean Toilet Brothers such as toilet bowl, stool and shower.

There are varieties of food here range from Japan, Korean, Western, Hong Kong till oriental style. As usual, it categories as main dishes, appetizers, drinks and desserts.

Peoples are sitting on the toilet bowl to enjoy their meal

Toilet bowl that peoples sit on it

Bath tub as table

Menu front page with a toothbrush on it

Pork rib steam rice served in mini bath tub

Canton Fish Rice

"Stool" style dark chocolate ice-cream

Why don't try the foods yourself? Never try, never know. Below are the address for the branch at Sunway Pyramid.

T-Bowl
Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall,
Lot 1F-96-97, First Floor,

No. 3, Jalan PJS 11/15,
Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.

Business Hour: Mon-Sun (11am - 10pm)(Last Call 9.30pm)
Reservation: YES (On weekdays only)
Contact Number: +6016.808.6661
Email: tbros@t-bowl.com

PSD scholarship issue resolved

2011-06-02T12:00:00.002+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet has resolved the controversy over the 86 students who failed to obtain Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarships by offering them scholarships to pursue degrees of their choice at local private higher education institutions.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said this included twinning degrees, where students start their degrees at a local institution before completing their studies at a foreign partner university.

“These students are 9A+ scorers who did not receive scholarships for either overseas study or disciplines of their choice,” he told reporters at Parliament after announcing the Cabinet decision yesterday (see chart).

He added that the scholarships would cost the Government RM26.1mil.

“The initial PSD offers amounted to RM14.8mil, but if we were to send all 86 students overseas it would cost us RM52.1mil,” he said.

On Tuesday, Nazri, together with MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and MIC deputy president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, submitted an appeal on behalf of the 86 PSD scholarship applicants who failed to get places to study overseas.

Nazri said the Cabinet had also agreed to allocate places in matriculation programmes for the 67 9A+ and 103 8A+ scorers who were offered diploma courses.

“The Cabinet has also agreed to offer students specialised matriculation programmes as per previous years,’’ he said, adding that procedures for PSD scholarships awarded in the future would also be reviewed.

“Since we have an increasing number of top scorers each year, we need to look at how we can sustain the scholarship scheme,” he said.

“The result of the review will be announced some time this year so students will know what to expect.”

On another matter, Nazri said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had asked him to meet with representatives of Barisan Nasional component parties for names of students who obtained less than 8A+ as the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) will award an additional 500 scholarships for local studies.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who was at the meeting, thanked Najib and his fellow Cabinet members.

“With this, we have resolved this issue and students who have got A+ for all subjects will be duly awarded a scholarship,” he said at his office yesterday.

Source: The Star Online

Angry Bird Coffee

2011-06-02T11:56:00.003+08:00

My Chumby’s Fish!

2011-06-02T11:52:00.000+08:00

Chumby takes your favorite parts of the Internet and delivers them to you in a friendly, always on, always-fresh format. Bruno Fosi takes this idea a step further with his My Chumbys fish online. It’s a way of caring for someone else’s aquarium remotely when they are away. The idea was inspired the Heart, which constantly craves the company of friends and loved ones. Using Chumby’s hardware its possible to feed and maintain your friend’s aquarium remotely. The concept boasts of a colorful touch screen that allows you to feed your friend’s fish and maintain a healthy aquarium. Fitted with sensors on the robot, the system monitors the habitat and the data and analysis is reported back to you online.

To guide you through the maintenance process there is an automated menu for tasks, configurations and real-time webcam. The Chumby’s built-in accelerometer, compression sensors and microphone allow you to interact with the fishes in a more realistic way. Using the captured shakes and tap movements its possible to simulate the aquarium with vibrations and air bubbles. The Compression sensors radiate heat and light, making the fish more comfortable. Overall it’s a system that allows you to be there for the fish, without physically being present.

Source: Design Launches

Swiss giant Titan Arum first opened after 75 years

2011-06-02T11:37:00.006+08:00

The 17-year-old Amorphophallus titanum has never bloomed before

Thousands of people are flocking to the northern Swiss city of Basel to see a giant, stinky flower bloom for the first time.

The Amorphophallus titanum - known as corpse flower because it exudes a smell of rotting flesh - is the first to blossom in Switzerland in 75 years.

The Basel Botanical Gardens expects the 6.6ft (2m) plant to attract 10,000 people whilst in bloom.

The bloom is set to wilt late Saturday or Sunday.

Worldwide, there have been only 134 recorded blooms from artificial cultivation, according to AP news agency.

The flower first began to poke out of the soil in March, and in the past few days it had been growing at about 6cm a day, according to Swissinfo news website.

Its mother plant last bloomed in the Frankfurt Palm Garden in 1992.

Originally native to the tropical rainforests on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the plant requires a humid climate to grow and rarely blossoms, even in the wild.

The flower's smell, said to be a cross between burnt sugar and rotting flesh, is designed to attract insects for pollination.

Source: BBC News

PKR: Electricity tariff adjustment a cosmetic change that will burden people

2011-06-01T12:35:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: The electricity tariff adjustment is only a cosmetic change and does not reflect the country's power generation issues, PKR said.

The party's strategy director Mohd Rafizi Ramli said the Government's announcement on the power tariff adjustment would result in the people being burdened with gas subsidy cuts.

“The people will have to pay the burden of higher fuel costs,” he told a press conference at the party's headquarters here yesterday.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said that “the only and proper way to correct distortions in our power sector is to restructure the lopsided power purchase agreements between independent power producers (IPPs) and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).”

Source: The Star Online

iPhone 5 Seemingly Ruled Out for June Launch

2011-06-01T12:12:00.004+08:00

Apple just pre-announced the iCloud for next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, but what the company didn't say -- specifically, that it'll bring the iPhone 5 or other new hardware to the event -- is just as important.

It's unusual for Apple to tease news ahead of time, so I can only imagine that this press release was intended to temper expectations. The headline of Apple's announcement says it all: "Apple to Unveil Next Generation Software at Keynote Address on Monday, June 6." In other words, don't get your hopes up for hardware.

For the last three years, Apple has used WWDC to announce new iPhones, but this year Apple seems likely to break tradition and hold off on its next smartphone until September at the earliest. That's what the rumors have been saying, at least.
And at this point, a September iPhone launch makes sense. It's closer to the holidays, when rival phone makers will be launching their own new Android phones and Windows Phones. It would also give Apple something else to talk about besides iPods and Apple TV, neither of which are as buzzworthy as the iPhone.

The next iPhone may not be a major revision anyway. We've seen the term "iPhone 4S" thrown around, as if to suggest spec boosts and minor cosmetic changes rather than a design overhaul and bold new features. At WWDC, expect Apple to argue that software is far more important as the company introduces iOS 5, Mac OS X Lion and the iCloud.

Source: Techland

PM: IPPs won't benefit from power tariff hike

2011-05-31T17:30:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: Independent power producers (IPPs) will not benefit from the increase in the electricity tariff, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said the Government's agreement on following the "fuel cost past-through mechanism" meant Petronas would forgo part of its revenue to enable the power sector to produce low-tariff electricity for the people.

"It is a pass-through tariff so nobody benefits," he said at a press conference after mentoring 20 youth leaders at the Youth Action Forum here Tuesday.

On calls for the Government to make public the power purchasing agreement between TNB and the IPPs, Najib said: "The Government will look into it but in principle, IPPs will not benefit from the subsidy."

The electricity tariff in Peninsula Malaysia will go up by 7.12% from Wednesday.

More in The Star Wednesday

Source: The Star Online

IYAZ - Replay

2011-05-31T15:12:00.012+08:00

Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay (2x)

Remember the first time we met
You was at the mall wit yo friend
I was scared to approach ya
But then you came closer
Hopin' you would give me a chance

Who would have ever knew
That we would ever be more than friends
We're real worldwide, breakin all the rules
She like a song played again and again

That girl, like somethin off a poster
That girl, is a dime they say
That girl, is a gun to my holster
She's runnin through my mind all day, ay

Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay (2x)

See you been all around the globe
Not once did you leave my mind
We talk on the phone, from night til the morn
Girl you really changed my life
Doin things I never do
I'm in the kitchin cookin things she likes

We're real worldwide, breakin all the rules
Someday I wanna make you my wife
That girl, like somethin off a poster
That girl, is a dime they say
That girl, is the gun to my holster
She's runnin through my mind all day, ay

Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay (2x)

I can be your melody
Oh girl that could write you a symphony
The one that could fill your fantasies
So come baby girl let's sing with me
Ay, I can be your melody
Oh girl that could write you a symphony
The one that could fill your fantasies
So come baby girl let's sing with me

Ay, na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Shawty got me singin
Na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na
Now she got me singin

Shawty's like a melody in my head
That I can't keep out
Got me singin' like
Na na na na everyday
It's like my iPod stuck on replay, replay-ay-ay-ay (2x)

Jessie J ft. B.O.B - Price Tag

2011-05-31T15:02:00.002+08:00

Okay, Coconut man, Moon Heads and Pea
You ready

Seems like everybody's got a price,
I wonder how they sleep at night.
When the sale comes first,
And the truth comes second,
Just stop, for a minute and
Smile

Why is everybody so serious
Acting so damn mysterious
Got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high
That you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

Okay!
We need to take it back in time,
When music made us all unite
And it wasn't low blows and video hoes,
Am I the only one getting tired
Why is everybody so obsessed
Money can't buy us happiness
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now
Guarantee we'll be feeling Alright.

Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.

Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

[B.o.B]
Yeah yeah
Well, keep the price tag
And take the cash back
Just give me six strings and a half stACK.
And you can keep the cars
Leave me the garage
And all I..
Yes all I need are keys and guitars
And its with in 30 seconds I'm leaving to Mars
Yeah we leaping across these undefeatable odds
Its like this man, you can't put a price on the life
We do this for the love so we fight and sacrifice everynight
So we aint gon stumble and fall never
Waiting to see this in the sign of defeat uh uh
So we gon keep everyone moving their feet
So bring back the beat and then everyone sing

It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

[Jessie J -Outro]
Yeah, yeah
Oo-oooh
Forget about the price tag

Adam Lambert - If I Had You

2011-05-31T14:57:00.001+08:00

So I got my boots on, got the right 'mount of leather
And I'm doing me up with a black color liner
And I'm workin' my strut but I know it don't matter
All we need in this world is some love
There's a thin line 'tween the dark side and the light side baby tonight
It's a struggle gotta rumble trying to find it

But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy
Yeah, if I had you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you
If I had you.

From New York to LA getting high rock n' rollin
Get a room trash it up 'til it's ten in the morning
Girls in stripper heels, boys rolling in Maseratis
What they need in this world is some love
There's a thin line tween a wild time and a flat line baby tonight
It's a struggle, gotta rumble tryin' to find it

But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy
Yeah, if I had you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you

If I had

The flashing of the lights
It might feel so good
But I've got you stuck on my mind, yeah!
The fashion and the stage
It might get me high
But it don't mean a thing tonight

That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah, if I had you, the money, fame and fortune never could compete
If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy
Yeah, if I had you
You-y-y-y-y-you
You-y-y-y-y-you
You-y-y-y-y-you
If I had you

That would be the only thing I'd ever need
Yeah, if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete (never could compete with you)

If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy (it'd be ecstasy with you)
Yeah, if I had you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you
You y-y-y-y-you
If I had you
(fade ending)

Power tariff hike: Pay more if bill is above RM77

2011-05-31T14:29:00.003+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Those with a monthly average electricity bill of more than RM77 (300kWh) will have to pay a minimum of 0.07sen if they maintain the current usage under the new tariff hike effective tomorrow.

However, consumers who currently use up to 1,000kWh per month will have to pay an additional RM30.30.

About 1.51 million households or 25.5% of domestic electricity users in Peninsula Malaysia will be affected as they are said to be using more than 300kWh of electricity a month.

TNB Berhad president Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad said the new tariff would be calculated based on the amount of usage above the 300kWh level that would see bills increasing from 0.1% up to 10%.

He cited an example where those who had been using 200kWh to 300kWh a month would still be paying between RM43.6 and RM77 in electricity bills.

“If they exceed this, for example to 1,000kWh a month, then their bills would be calculated based on the new tariff,” he said during a special briefing held at TNB's headquaters here yesterday.

He cited an example where a domestic consumer who used to pay RM181.19 to RM259.2 for using between 601kWh and 800kWh a month would now be paying RM199.23 to RM285.10 instead.

Apart from the lower income group, who would not be affected, Che Khalib said the tariff revision would not greatly impact low voltage commercial and industrial users who used less than 200kWh each month for their businesses.

“For example, food stall operators will only have to pay an additional RM0.15 a day under the new tariff. As such, it should not be an excuse for them to raise the prices of their drinks or food,” he said.

He also said that the special 10% discount on electricity bills for government schools and government institutions of higher learning, registered places of worship and welfare homes would be maintained.

This discount, he added, would now be extended to educational institutions partly funded by the Government.

Source: The Star Online

Little Pantry @ Puchong IOI Mall

2011-05-30T19:00:00.006+08:00

Little Pantry - A themed restaurant officially open on 17 December 2010. It is serving Western and Asian food. The restaurant is literally decorated with white and pink, it looks airy and clean, it kinda nice ambiance. It looks like those in fairy tale, the atmosphere looks so girly, even the waitresses are wearing maid costume to match with the restaurant. The decorations reminds me FullHouse and Gardens Lifestyle Store and Cafe.

Main entrance

Menu front page printed "Little Pantry" logo

Table flower deco

Waitresses wearing maid costume to match with the restaurant

Bubble Milk Tea

Longan with Mint

Cappuccino

Variety of drinks

Fish 'n' Chips

Fish Fillet

Aglio Olio Pasta

Chicken Chop

Steak

Carbonara Pasta

Get a FREE cake if you dine at Little Pantry within the week of your actual birthday

Attention to all ladies! Dress yourself in pink if you dine at Little Pantry on Wednesday, you will get 15% off for a-la-carte!

The menu is divided into few categories comprising of appetizers, western dishes, asian dishes, drinks and desserts. They also prepared set menu for your convenient. Anyway, why not try all these food by yourself? Below are the address and contact information.

Little Pantry
G02 & G18 Ground Floor,
IOI Mall Puchong, Bandar Puchong,
Batu 9 Jalan Puchong,
Puchong, Malaysia, 47100
Email: enquiries@littlepantry.com.my
Phone: +603.8070.8527
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/littlepantry

Eight-Year-Old Girl Blows $1400 on Smurfberries

2011-05-30T16:07:00.000+08:00

U.S. regulators are being asked to look into the situation after an eight-year-old girl purchased $1400 worth of smurfberries in the iPad game Smurfs' Vilage.

Stephanie Kay recently got a rather startling surprise in her email: a $1400 smurfberry bill. The charges were rung up by her eight-year-old daughter, Madison, who apparently didn't realize that although the Capcom game Smurfs' Village is free, smurfberry purchases made within it cost real money. A lot of real money.

"I thought the app preyed on children," Kay said. "Note that the Smurf app states it is for ages 4-plus."

She was given a one-time refund when she brought it to Apple's attention but her situation and others like it have now attracted the attention of two members of the U.S. Congress, who asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into the matter.

"I am concerned about how these applications are being promoted and delivered to consumers, particularly with respect to children, who are unlikely to understand the ramifications of in-app purchases," Rep. Edward Markey said in a letter asking the FTC. He wants the Commission to "assess current industry activities in this area to determine whether they constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices."

It does seem a bit odd that a game ostensibly for children would charge $19 for a bucket of snowflakes or $99 for a wagon of smurfberries, but it also bears wondering why she, and other children, are being given access to iPads and online games without supervision. Some parents complain that parental controls are difficult to use or have loopholes, like giving users a 15-minutes window to make purchases without re-entering a password after it's entered once. But those controls are only effective if they're actually used and it's hard to be too critical when "Madison's mother let her download smurfberries with the help of her older sister, who knew the family's iTunes password."

Capcom said instances of accidental online purchases were "lamentable" and has added a disclaimer on the App Store warning that the game is free but in-game purchases are not, along with a pop-up in the game itself reminding players that this stuff actually costs money.

Source: The Escapist

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Official Trailer (HD)

2011-05-27T22:25:00.001+08:00

Fast & Furious 5 Trailer (HD)

2011-05-27T22:23:00.001+08:00