Top 10 Windows XP Tricks

Taken from TechWeb:

Despite all the hoopla about the introduction of Windows Vista, the truth of the matter is that the new OS isn't due for at least another seven to nine months — and it will probably be even longer before most of us start adopting it. Meanwhile, we've still got to deal with Win XP.

In order to make the waiting easier, we've decided to assemble the greatest tips in the history of

Windows XP. Here you'll find the tips that give you the most bang for your buck; that are most useful in terms of security, functionality, and PC performance; and that are just plain cool.

One final thought: As you parse our Top 10, consider the following: With any luck, this time next year we'll all be reading Windows Vista tips stories.

And now let's start the countdown.

Tip 10: Halt background services to improve performance.

This tip is one of our favorites because it always works. Running in the background of Windows are scores of services, small processes used by Windows and many Windows applications. The thing is, you don't need all these services — especially for applications you never use — and many of them actually slow your PC down.

Win XP power users have long known that you can easily eke a little extra performance out of your PC by disabling services that are completely unnecessary or that don't need to be running all the time. Here's how it works.

1. Click Start > Run, type services.msc and click OK. This will bring up the Services management console. Click on the Extended tab at the bottom of this window; each background service running on your PC is listed here. Windows includes a fairly detailed description of each service; simply drag the Description column wider to read more of each description, or click on a service to see its full description in the left pane.

2. Double-click a service to bring up a window with several options. In the Startup Type area, you can set the service to run automatically in the background at all times so it's ready whenever it's needed, or you can tell it to run manually, which means you'll have to go into this Services management console and re-enable it if an application needs it.

You can also completely disable the service. In general, you want to disable services tied to applications and/or features you don't use or rarely use. You can find a great list of appropriate services to disable at the Elder Geek's Services Guide For Windows XP.

If you're logged onto the computer as the administrator, you can also pause the service (click the Pause button in the Service Status area just below the Startup Type area), then see how the computer behaves. Danger signs include crashes or other erratic behaviors in your applications, such as running slowly or getting stuck on a query prompt. Click Resume to start up the service again.

Tip 9: Increase available disk space by scaling back System Restore.

It's not perfect, but Windows System Restore is a useful first step in recovering your PC or drive from a major system error. However, it can consume more than 10 percent of your total hard drive space.

If you find yourself desperate for an extra few gigabytes — particularly on secondary storage drives — there's an easy way to reclaim data space by simply limiting the number of System Restore points Windows XP establishes. This one's a snap and there's no tangible increase of risk, which is why we love it.

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties > System Restore.

2. If you have just one hard drive, skip to step 3. Otherwise, select the drive on which you want to gain storage space and click the Settings button.

3. Adjust the slider to the left to use less disk space, and Win XP will reduce the number of System Restore points by the appropriate amount.

Tip 8: Scrub your hard drive clean.

Windows Support Tools, provided free by Microsoft, are a suite of some 20+ separate applications that are extremely handy for a number of uses. Ordinary PC users probably won't use many of these apps — they're mostly used by IT pros to troubleshoot and analyze Windows XP. But even if you're not an expert, don't be afraid of using the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, which will help you remove all leftover files from a failed uninstall of a Windows Installer application.

Download Windows Support Tools from Microsoft's Download Center. (If you're curious about the other apps in the suite, check out the help file included in the Windows Support Tools Program group.)

To run the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility, go to the command prompt (select Start > Run) and type msicuu.exe. You'll see a list of all applications with uninstall data. Select the ones you want to get rid of and click the Remove button. Obviously, you want to use caution here — don't clear the install data for an application unless you're absolutely sure you won't ever need it.

Tip 7: Run two displays on the same PC.

This tip is for the worker bee. Adding a second display to your PC won't quite double your productivity, but it will make your computing life easier. Walk around a cube farm these days, and you'll likely see at least a few power users doubling up.

Thankfully, Windows XP makes it extremely easy.

1. Plug the second display into your computer. (Many video cards today have a second Video Out port; if not, you'll have to install a second video card.)

2. Right-click on your desktop and click Properties to bring up the Display Properties window. Click on the Settings tab.

3. See the grayed-out box to the right of the black box? That's your second monitor. Click on it and then click the check box next to "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" to enable it. From here you can adjust the resolution of the secondary display. The goal here is to have a desktop that spans both of your displays, so if your second screen is physically located to the left of your primary one, drag and drop the #2 monitor to the left of the #1 display.

Tip 6: Force unresponsive applications to close at shutdown.

When it comes to balky PCs, few things annoy us more than the moment when we try to shut down Windows and it tells us it can't because some crashed application isn't responding, and that we have to do it ourselves by clicking the End Now button.

This registry hack changes that. Here's how it works.

1. Launch RegEdit (select Start > Run, type regedit and click OK) and browse to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

2. Find the string called AutoEndTasks. Right-click it, select Modify from the pop-up menu, and change the data value from 0 to 1. (If you can't find this string, create it by selecting Edit > New > String Value and set the data value to 1.)

3. Close RegEdit and reboot.

Tip 5: Automatically optimize your hard drive.

One of the keys to system performance is an optimized hard drive. Typically, you optimize your hard drive using Windows' Defrag utility. But there's a great registry hack that will force Win XP to automatically optimize the location of files when your PC is idle. Here's how it works.

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionOptimalLayout

2. Find the string called EnableAutoLayout, and change its data value to 1. (If this string doesn't exist, create it and set the value to 1.)

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC. Done!

Tip 4: Set a custom resolution.

Notice a trend in the second half of this story? If you answered, "They're all registry hacks," you are correct. Windows XP's registry loads an amazing amount of flexibility and customization in a fairly low-risk package.

Tip number 4 on our list is another one of our favorite registry hacks. Windows XP allows you to specify a large number of set screen resolutions based on what types of images your display can accept. However, in a few rare instances, you may want to specify a non-standard resolution for a clearer or more accurate picture. This tip allows you to do just that. It's one of those tips that doesn't seem all that handy — until you desperately need it. Plus, it's just plain cool. If you have a wonky projector or TV screen you want to use with a laptop or PC, you might want to give this a try.

Here's how it works:

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VIDEO{the address of your primary video card...it often begins with "23A77BF7"}\0000\

2. The Default Settings.XResolution data value is the horizontal resolution, and the Default Settings.YResolution data value is the vertical. Double-click the Default Settings.XResolution data entry, select the Decimal radio button, and in the Value Data field, enter your desired horizontal resolution. Then do the same with Default Settings.YResolution to change the vertical resolution.

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC.

If you're scared of tweaking your registry on this one, a handy app called PowerStrip ($29.95, available for a free try-before-you-buy download), allows you similar resolution-changing functionality.

Tip 3: Stay on top of registry changes.

Given the power and flexibility of Windows XP's registry (and the large number of registry hacks in this Top 10), it's no surprise that the number 3 XP tip involves keeping track of any and all changes made to your registry.

But given the prevalence of spyware, rootkits, and other malware these days, knowing what you've done to your registry is a secondary concern to knowing what other applications are doing to it.

For peace of mind — and occasionally, for curiosity's sake — we consider SysInternal's Regmon an essential piece of our OS. It's a freeware application that allows you to browse through all the keys in the registry, filtering in a variety of ways to pinpoint specific registry changes.

For example, you can quickly filter for certain applications. If you're having trouble with Windows Media Player, you click on the Options menu, then Filter. At the menu, type wmplayer into the Include field. When you see the resulting list, you can double-click any entry to open up its registry value.

Because you can search and filter, Regmon is also an excellent method for tracking down hard-to-find registry items.

Tip 2: Recover lost data.

Everyone has accidentally deleted files from their hard drive, and very few feelings are as low as the moment right after you nuke 300 irreplaceable photographs of your kids/dogs/life. Actually, one feeling is worse than that: accidentally quick-formatting your entire drive.

Even if you regularly back up your drives, mistakes happen. That's why this tip is paramount. It's also really simple. There's an excellent downloadable data recovery app for XP called Zero Assumption Recovery that can help. Don't waste another minute — download and install it now.

When you run into trouble, here's what to do:

1. The moment you delete your data, stop using your hard drive. Don't save or install any new applications — they'll be written over your recently departed data.

2. Run Zero Assumption Recovery. You already had it installed, right?

3. Select the hard drive you want to scan. Wait for the scan to finish. (This can take between one and two hours -- part of Zero Assumption Recovery's effectiveness is its thoroughness.)

4. With any luck, you'll see a list of your missing folders and files. The freeware version of Zero Assumption Recovery allows you to recover up to four folders per scan. If you pay $100 for the full version, you get full recovery.

Note: You can also use Zero Assumption Recovery to recover deleted photos from your camera's memory card.

Tip 1: Automatically log when and why shutdowns have occurred.

Love it or hate it, Windows XP is undeniably more stable than its predecessors. But it still crashes, and it still has occasional trouble shutting down. This registry hack logs all shutdown errors, telling you when, where, and why strange and annoying things have happened.

Some folks have the luxury of packing their buggy PC off to a help desk. But if you like to get your hands dirty, consider this essential tweakage.

Here's how to set up logging for unexpected system shutdowns:

1. Open RegEdit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionReliability

2. Set the ShutDownReasonUI data value to 1. (If this string doesn't exist, create it and set the value to 1.)

3. Exit RegEdit and reboot your PC.

To examine the log you've created, open up the Event Viewer, which you'll find by selecting Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer. Click on the System subheading and you'll see a massive list of system events. Errors will be marked with a red X or a yellow exclamation mark. Double-click on the error and you'll see details that may help you unravel the mystery.

Schumacher claims the last record!

He has most number of GP wins, most number of championship wins, most number of fastest laps and most number of laps leading a race. He has now claimed the final record. Michael Schumacher's 66th pole (more to come as well) at Imola has moved him ahead of the late and mercurial Aryton Senna in the area of record pole positions. Incidentally, Senna's last pole was also at Imola in 1994 where he was tragically killed in a high-speed accident while leadng the race, being pursuit closely by a young Schumacher (in his 2nd year in F1 then). Wow, 12 years and the link between Schumacher, Imola and Senna seems to be complete now.

Thanks Liverpool!!

Yes!! Looks like we really owe Liverpool one. They've accomplished the mammoth task of defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup semifinals, preventing them from getting the double again. Yes!!

Liverpool, please do the whole world a favour

Old Trafford, Liverpool, Chelsea, 22/4/2006 4.00pm (GMT), FA Cup semi-final 2006. Liverpool (though I'm not your fan), please do the whole world a good by not letting Chelsea get their Premiership-FA Cup double. Thanks! We all owe you one if you do that:P

Small Tip When Driving in KL

Just realised this. If you're driving in KL and not sure where your destination is really located, following the signboards around here will:
1. Lead you to roads with the most tolls
2. Lead you to roads with the least petrol stations along the way

So, if you're traveling to places you've neve been to. Consult these sites first ya:
1. Pagenation Malaysia
2. Malaxi
3. Map.com.my

Narrow Escape

Just wanna warn all those who are/will be heading down south from KL. The stretch between Seremban and Alor Gajah is undergoing massive construction to build 2 more lanes (1 on each side). I just went down this friday (21/4/2006) to meet my parents. Some stretches are being tarred again but PLUS isnt doing a good job. The new tar is darker, there's no light and the white lines werent drawn yet. So when you're driving at night (as I did), be extra cautious are there are also more trailers, buses, lorries at night too. I made the mistake of overtaking a trailer during one of these stretches (I know, cari pasal). While overtaking, my car actually veered right dramatically forcing me to correct my steering quickly or else the whole car would have been pulled to the right. I think this is because the roads are not tarred totally, leaving small ridges at both sides of the rode. I think while overtaking, my car's right front tire bit into the side ridge (probably because i stayed too far right too) causing the very dramatic reaction. When it happened, I thought to myself: "Not bad ah, my reflexes and car control isnt too shabby". It was only after I passed the trailer then I realised what could have happened if I over-corrected or something. Could have sent my car underneath the trailer. So, be careful, y'all!

The Most Creative Thing that have come out from the Chinese So Far

This "song" has been around for quite some time. Recently heard it on radio again. So thought wanna share with some of you who may not have heard it (very unlikely). It's basically a song that consists of portions from other songs and somehow it sounds right. It's the most creative, IMHO, that have come out from the Chinese so far:P Though as usual, once a good idea is known, everyone starts to copy it and turn it into a bad idea:P

The song can be found "here". Thanks to Baidu:P

刺激2005 (Excitement 2005) <- (Kinky title though. Made the mistake of asking a girl what the two words mean. I dont think that was such a good idea after i found out what it mean)

歌手：赵英俊　专辑：无敌翻唱版

还记得吗(最熟悉的陌生人)
我们在机场的车站(你的背包)
你找个借口让我接受(爱不爱我)
直到视线变得模糊(至少还有你)
整夜都闭不了眼睛(听海)
你与我之间有谁(情人)
一九九五年(你的背包)
比以往时候来的更晚一些(2002年的第一场雪)
静静看你走一点都不像我(开始懂了)
盼不到我爱的人(爱我的人和我爱的人)
风再大又怎样(流星雨)
我要带你飞到天上去(小薇)
为你付出那种伤心你永远不了解(痴心绝对)
感觉有那么甜我那么依恋(断点)
相信那一天抵过永远(江南)
只是他们还不够单纯(月亮可以代表我的心)
手牵手一步两步三步四步望着天(星晴)
你却把别人拥在怀里(太委屈)
无论情节浪漫或多离奇(彩虹)
我的爱就有意义(勇气)
我唯一爱的就是你(爱的就是你)

让我们忘了那片海(那片海)
只要你过得比我好(只要你过得比我好)

Can't wait for the F1 season to continue again!

This weekend will a weekend of great anticipation as the F1 circus moves back to Europe after the 3 fly-by races in Bahrain, Malaysia and Australia. Three weeks of off-screen inaction is a bit too long for me. But finally F1 is back in action and this time it will be at Ferrari's spiritual homeground, San Marino GP's Imola track, where Ferrari's history has been so deeply ingrained into. Ferrari's factory is just round the corner and they have traditionally done well here. So here goes nothing!

EPL at its Best .. concluded by some desperate football rantings!

Those who saw the Tottenham Hotspurs-Man United match will not forget it in a huff. Though MU won 2-1 ultimately, it was no stroll in the park though the first half begged to differ. In a titanic season-nearing match, a 4th vs 2nd tussle sure isnt for the weak-hearted. From start to finish, it was 90 minutes of end-to-end stuff. With so much at stake (Spurs having Arsenal breathing down their neck chasing the 4th Champions' League spot and Man U trying to delay Chelski's inevitable back-to-back victory), there was much to cheer about in this epic battle. Spurs vs MU matches seemed to always show the best and worst of EPL. Who could forget a certain match where Spurs raced to a 3-0 lead in the first half, only to lose 3-5 in the 2nd, inspired by a certain Golden Balls. There is without a doubt that if someone who has never watched an EPL match suddenly decides to do so, he/she should watch a Spurs-ManU match.

Though Spurs offered great fight, Man U oldest (Van Der Sar) and youngest (Rooney) resuscitate their fading EPL challenge if only for 2 more weeks. Spurs started the stronger, creating several chances within the first 5 minutes. However, thanks to Van Der Sar who made 2 point-blank saves, MU survived the initial onslaught and slowly started to impose themselves. The first goal's built-up was excellent with Van Nistlerooy carrying the ball forward on the left touchline, sent a delicate pass which left the defender for dead, bringing Ronaldo (the Portugese, not the fat Brazilian) into play. With Ronaldo pushing the ball forward to the far post, all seemed lost until he pulled the ball back across the goal mouth, eluding Spurs' keeper and defender into the path of precocious Rooney, who gladly tapped the ball into goal. What a move! 2nd goal was caused by a mini Korean war as Spurs's Lee Young-Pyo and MU's Park Ji-Sung showed that there is really something wrong with Asians (Koreans specifically:P i don really mean this) playing in EPL. A cross to the right corner of the Spurs' half sent Lee and Park chasing after the ball. Lee reached there first and tried to clear but the ball richocheted off Park and was bouncing dangerously about. Lee immediately chased the ball, Park looked like giving up but realising he was on the bigscreen in the stadium, decided to give chase as well (I kid you not, the guy froze for about 1.5 sec before kicking back into action, or may be it's just a Korean thingy). For some unfathomable reason, Lee, though reached the ball first, decided to bring the ball into the 6-yard box rather than catapult the ball towards the far end, only to realise horror of all horrors, Wayne Rooney was lurking nearby. His in-experience was clearly exposed when Park came back to steal the ball from behind to pass to Rooney who again had the simplest job of choosing where to put the ball into the net. 0-2 at half-time.

Easy-peasy? Not quite, Jose:P True to the English spirit, Spurs came roaring back in the 2nd half and caused United plenty of headaches. Rio Ferdinand's nonchalant but suicidal clearances didnt help Van Der Sar either, who can be seen wasnt very impressed by his teammate's kamikaze tendencies. Jermain Jenas pulled a goal back from a corner that should not been awarded in the first place and guaranteed a heart-pumping finish. Ultimately, United just barely hung on to their lead and lived to fight another day. Great stuff!

Notable Notes:

Jermaine De Foe: He really does look like a darker (to use a politcally correct term) version of Michael Owen. Short, fast and small-sized, the resemblance is uncanny. However, there is without a doubt that, if you're bringing a team to World Cup, you would rather bring a semi-fit Owen than a match-fit De Foe. Owen has the clinical finishing that Jermaine clearly lacks. Two open goal opportunities, two embarrassing misses summed it all up nicely.

Man United Oldest-Youngest: As mentioned earlier, both Van Der Sar (age 35) and Rooney (age 20) played big parts in this match. Van Der Sar's amazing reflexes justified whatever money United paid for him but nothing beats the excitement that Rooney generates whenever he touches the ball. How this fella handles all the pressure and expectation is quite beyond me really.

Van Nistlerooy: Really worried about his future in United. Van Nistlerooy looked like a man fighting for his life at a club where he has given so much (150 goals in 200+ matches is quite an amazing record). However, all does really look bad for him. The old Van the Man would have scored after successfully beating the offside trap but for some reason, with only keeper to beat, he pulled the ball to the left, giving the defender a chance to challenge for the ball and clear. Really looked like a man who has lost his confidence badly with Saha pushing so strongly behind him. Hope that he and Alex Ferguson can just put their differences aside and concentrate on football. Ferguson's black face when Van Nistlerooy again hit the post sadly suggested otherwise. I think they might just waiting to see how Van Nistlerooy's performance goes in the World Cup before deciding the price to let him go. What a pity!

To round off such an extremely long post, I'm glad that Man United are back in style again. Though Chelsea may be the better team over 38 matches, no other team (other than perhaps Arsenal) can generate such a buzz around them when they play. 10 wins and a draw. To reduce an 18-point deficit with style. There can only be one United. I'm also glad that Chelsea's success has weed out all the band-wagon United fans who just know how to support the winning team (prawn-sandwich fans as Roy Keane used to call em). It's just like those whose football knowledge is only limited to Brazil and World Cup. Honestly, it's just too predictable whenever you ask these clueless folks football questions. Which is the best team in EPL? CHELSEA!!!! When was the last time they won the league before 2005? Huh??!! Who do you support in World Cup? BRAZIL!!!! When was the last time they won when it was held in Europe? Huh??!! Well, I'm hoping that this time, it'll be a Holland-Spain-Portugal-England semifinal with Holland finally beating Spain 3-2 in the finals.

A fine day for all TTies

In case you think otherwise, this entry has nothing to do with porn at all but rather with to do with the iconic Audi TT, which Jeremy Clarkson has labeled its owner TTies. The new one is out after so many years (still remember MI2, the car scene between a certain Mr Tom and Miss Thandie). Got these pics from Top Gear's site.

The shoulder profiles look a bit like the new Merc CL coupes.

The very-original Audi front grill.

A 2-door version of the Mercedes CLS?

Sudah 25 Tahun (it's already 25 years)

Had to go to the Ministry of Foreigns affair to collect my girlfriend's certificate of good conduct. Yup, same ministry whose website is tainted and is still tainted despite my best efforts to email the webmaster. To be honest, the only reason why I ransacked such a boring website was because I wanted to know what are the operating hours. As I couldnt find it online, I went there at 8am to be safe. Sure enough, the moment I reached there, I saw that they only started at 8.30am. The guard remarked to me jokingly "Sudah 25 tahun Kementerian ada, tiap-tiap hari pun 8.30 start" (This ministry has been around for 25 years, the operation hours always starts at 8.30) as if this is some general knowledge that the whole world should know. I wanted to tell him "Bang, Malaysia sudah merdeka hampir 50 tahun, tiap-tiap hari servis kerajaan pun sama jugak" (Malaysia has reached independence for almost 50 years, the level of service in the public sector remains the same) but I kept my mouth shut.

As if it isnt bad enough, while finally it was time to go in, I had to take a number, give my number and wait 1 hour for the cert to be ready. The Makcik (auntie) at the counter told me "Today printer rosak (spoilt) have to wait longer" Why tell me it's ready when it's not even printed yet. Looks like they are not only bad in website design, they cant even maintain a simple printer.

Well for some reason while waiting for the cert to be printed, I kept thinking back about the guard's 25 years remark and tried to see how much the country has really grown. And I cant help but think of our national car maker, Proton. They have been around for 21 years but what have they really done for the country all these while? Created more jobs for the country? Not much if you consider that they are only hiring about 3,000-4,000 people (including the parts industry and dealers) out of a 30million population, all these while encouraging these people to provide sub-quality components and sub-quality services. Not a great deal you would say?

International trade? Considering that they are selling most models at loss in UK and yet no one seems to be buying, you wouldnt say that's a great deal as well. Paying tax to the government? Considering Proton is currently owned by Petronas (our oil profit), Khazanah Holdings (commercial arm of Finance Ministry, i.e. our tax money) and Employee Providence Fund (our sweat money), it'll be good enough that Proton doesnt take away the government's money, which is indirectly our money. So for those of us who don own a Proton, don brag too much cause each time you pay your income tax, EPF, you are giving a piece of it to Proton. So you're actually a shareholder without the shares.

National pride? Are we all proud that Proton is Malaysia's national carmaker? When Volkswagen pulled out from the deal with Proton, the main reason was because the M'sian government insist on having control rights over whatever partnership they will be forming, citing national interest/national pride reasons. What pride? It's a joke for 20 years.

Giving Malaysians a chance to own affordable vehicles? Well, the only reason why Proton models are affordable is because the government has conveniently made the other carmakers not so affordable. So for 20 years, we have been forced to buy sub-quality outdated automobiles at cut-throat prices, which is incidentally normally RM10k more expensive than the export models, which are also of better built-quality (<- does this make any sense to any of you non-Malaysians out there????)

Well, the deception just cant go on forever and finally, the Malaysian government has realised this isnt really working. I guess Pak Lah isnt as keen on Proton continously seeping the national coffers since it wasnt his brainchild and he probably has other "new ideas" to spend money on. And considering that the next elections will be in 2 years time, the government will do well to be seen doing something good for the people for once. Which is why, the excise duties will "gradually" disappear as Proton will start to "look for new markets outside Malaysia". When will the Saga ever end, you might ask? Well, actually that's a double-pronged question since Proton is still offering their Proton Saga model in various guises, a model that has been around since 1985:))

So, an hour's wait allowed me to ponder a 21-year old dilemna. What a great way to start the morning!

Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Webpage Links to Chinese Website

Sigh, Malaysian public sector's clueness about IT has no bounds. Check out our foreign affairs ministry's website. Click on Inquiries. It actually leads to a portal in China, some enet.com.cn. Disgraceful to be a Malaysian, man! Screenshot if you don't believe:


HTML code in main page:

<frameset cols="161,607*" frameborder="0" border="0" framespacing="0">
<frame name="left" scrolling="NO" noresize src="menu/menuinquiries.html">
<frame name="main" src="http://infocenter3/kln/enquiry.nsf/Enquiry?OpenForm" 
scrolling="auto">

Kena hacked? Or programmer's mistake?

Most Bizarre in Today's Radio

Just heard the weirdest thing on Mix.fm this morning. Apparently the breakfast show team was having some one-hit-wonder countdown and listeners who suggest one-hit-wonder songs get a bouquet of flowers whom he/she can dedicate to. Well the DJs decided to go one up and call this suggester's wife to prepare her when this guy dedicates the flowers to. I had a weird feeling something bad was gonna happen but realising this was Malaysian radio, things should be under control la. Well the conversation on radio went something like this:

DJ: Hello, Simon! Congrats for suggesting the Ketchup song
Simon: Thanks!
DJ: Well you get a surprise gifr from us for participating in this program
Simon: Oh do I get the Ketchup girls (my internal siren started when this guy said this kinda stuff)
DJ: You are one kinky fella ah
Simon: Yeah man!
DJ: You are getting a bouquet of flowers whom you can dedicate to your loved one.
Simon: Ok! Every flower in this bouquet represents a part of my love. To Michelle, my love..
Wife: Michelle!!!!!!!!!?????????
Simon: Cindy!!!!?????????????
Wife: I cant believe this %#$@&!
Simon: $#$%#%
DJs: Guys, lets take this offline...

Commercial takes over. Well, I thought it was some early April's Fool Joke. Apparently it wasnt. So, warning to all you Simons out there. Be careful the next time you dedicate something on air.

The Rebel 5 has signed the 2008 Concorde Agreement

After much ado about nothing, the threat of a breakaway racing series by Mclaren, BMW, Honda, Toyota and Renault has finally been brought to a halt as the 5 teams meekly signed the Concorde Agreement for 2008's races and beyond. After realising that they're going nowhere with their pout and sulk, they have towed in line, joining Ferrari, Williams, and the 2 Red Bull teams.

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke

We interrupt this blog to bring you this special news (cause not related to cars or football at all:P):

I've always dreamt of choreographing, singing and dancing to a Hindi tune on stage (actually it never crossed my mind until a couple in my church group (boy's indian and girl's chinese) decided to get married and a few of us have to do a sketch during the wedding dinner). The wedding was last night (25th March) at Legend Hotel, KL. First thing that crossed my mind when i was told about it: BOLLYWOOD STORY!! But since the girl's chinese, so must mix a bit of Chinese culture into it. So the basic flow of the story was:

One day, hot male Bollywood-star wannabe meets sweet female Chinese Opera singer-wannabe on the street. It was love at first sight. The courtship blossoms with them doing a Hindi dance. Guy proposes, girl accepts. They go home to tell their parents (Guy's father is a widower and girl's mother is a widow, implied). All 4 meets only to realise that the father and mother were ex-lovers 30 years ago but were separated due to parental objections. The sketch ends with everyone singing a Chinese folklore song with the lyrics re-written in English to tell that love transcends race and culture.

Standard Hindi movie stuff eh:) Unfortunately, we couldnt do the sketch cause all the actors had really busy schedules for the past weeks and we couldnt find time to practice. (it was good as well since in retrospect, the story was quite controversial and the crowd on that night were quite serious(hungry)-looking. Don think they will see the humorous side of things). So how??? The sketch is in the program already. If cancel, it'll be a big disappoint to our friends. Thank God, I finally got new inspiration at 5pm last night (wedding was at 8pm, first practice for sketch was supposed to be 6pm:P). We wanted to do a karaoke of the Hindi song at the end of the show anyway. Why not finetune the steps a bit (macarena-ise it) and let's just do a Bollywood dance scene? The song, Chori Chori Hum Gori Se was taken from the movie, The Guru. Catchy like nobody's business. So no problem on entertaining the audience regardless of any mishaps on stage. So the results of 3 practices between 6pm to 7pm is here. Hope you all enjoyed as much as I did. One of my Lifetime Dreams fulfilled:P Many thanks to Christ Jesus who provided all the inspirations and my lovely dancers (Debbie, Ann and Liew (Left to Right in the dance))

Lyrics of the Chori (x2) Chupke (x2) with translations:

Chori Chori Hum Gori Se Pyaar Karengey
i will love the fair damsel stealthily
Chupke Chupke Dil Ki Baatein Yaar Karengey
secretly i'll talk about matters of the heart with her
Chori Chori Hum Gori Se Pyaar Karengey
Chupke Chupke Dil Ki Baatein Yaar Karengey

Aane Waali, Kabh Aayegi Koi De Bataa
when will that damsel enter my life, someone please tell me
Dhoond Rahe Hain, Jaane Kabh Se, Hum Uska Pataa
i've been searching for her from a long time
Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aaja Aa
c'mon, come to me!

By the way, title of the original sketch was called Bollywood and Chinese Opera:)) Message me if you want the mp3 of the Hindi song.

What a bunch of Children

This spate of letters from GPMA to FIA and vice versa is quite laughable actually. Consider this: Formula One is a billion-dollar business, the players are all billion-dollar earners, there are billions of viewers every race. And yet, those involved cant see eye-to-eye. The stakes are high, gentlemen. The motor industry has never been in better shape, save in America (land of no-corners) of course. As the world becomes more affluent, the desire to earn a top-class automobile is simply irresistible, be it in China, India, Europe and America (they have finally learned the need for corners, apparently). All this politicking isnt really necessary and leaves an absolute bad taste in the exhaust. So, will the real Slim Shady, please stand up or as Mariah Carey sings, Shake it off, bozos. And let the real men take centre stage.

BMW is the bald spot, Honda is the eyes, Mercedes is the nose, Toyota is probably the mouth and Renault is its penis

Dear Rascals (Letter from Max Mosley to the Rebel-5)

** Please read Prequel first

Letter from Mosley to the GPMA
Gentlemen

Thank you for your letter of 21 March, which was sent to us at 22.11 last night.

The World Motor Sport Council took account of the contents of your letter, but noted that it contained no proposal which could be substituted for any of those in front of the Council, sent to you on 1 March and the again, with minor modifications, on 15 March.

The World Motor Sport Council has also noted that none of you attended the meetings which were held early in 2005 to discuss the 2008 regulations, despite repeated invitations to do so, and that the proposals which you promised to deliver to us in June 2005 are still not to hand.

In the circumstances, the Council decided to adopt the proposed Sporting Regulations in their entirety and extend an invitation to all interested teams to enter the 2008 Championship and participate in discussions on any element which they believe could be improved.

The Council notes that although the 2008 Sporting Regulations are now fixed, any element could be changed on proposal of a simple majority of the entered teams sitting in the Sporting Working Group and that the Formula 1 Commission or the World Motor Sport Council would only reject such proposal in the overall interest of the Formula One World Championship or of motor sport in general.

Yours sincerely

Max Mosley.

p.s. Go and piss yourself off (<--- Blog owner's creative rights)

Dear Max (Letter from the Rebel-5, GPMA)

Letter from the GPMA to Max Mosley
Dear Max

Thank you for your letter of 15 March 2006, enclosing a copy of the 2008 Sporting Regulations which are to be approved by the World Motor Sport Council on 22 March 2006.

We are pleased to note that the FIA wishes to involved teams in constructive discussion with a view to adopting changes to such Regulations with further aims as set out in your letter, once entries into the 2008 Championship have been accepted.

However, prior to any such discussions, we feel that it is appropriate for us to identify as number of significant concerns which we would prefer to raise now before the said Regulations are approved by the World Motor Sport Council.

Organisation Agreement

The 1998 Concorde Agreement, to which the teams and the FIA are parties, guarantee the current participating teams, during each year of the term, a right to entry into the Championship. Furthermore, the 1998 Concorde Agreement provides for the teams, as stakeholders in the sport, to have a significant role in its governance. These provisions appear to have been removed from the latest proposals submitted by the FIA post 2007 and we would ask that provisions to accommodate these concerns be taken into account in the draft 2008 Sporting Regulations to be approved by the World Motor Sport Council.

Engine Homologation

Whilst all signatories to this letter (and Cosworth) agree and confirm that they are committed to reducing engine costs, we realise that there is no time to discuss this issue further with you before the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council; we would respectfully request that Regulation 86e and Appendix 6 be agreed before the Sporting Regulations are adopted.

Rule Changes

We have noted that the provisions for changes in the Sporting and Technical Regulations which are currently set out in Appendix 5 of the draft 2008 Sporting Regulations, are different from those proposed in your letter of 18th November 2005. We would wish to see the composition, voting structure and proves of the Formula One Commission and its related working groups being established in line with your 19th November 2005 proposal. In particular, we believe that, further to previous discussions, if the majority of teams vote in favour of a change, such a change should not be capable of being vetoed by the F1 Commission.

In addition to the above, we do have a number of other concerns which we would also wish to discuss with you, which include the restriction on testing (Article 63 (b)), the engine ballast penalty (Article 86 (a)) and the gear box rules (Article 87). We believe that changes could be made to these provisions which would better achieve the FIA’s three objectives set out in your 15th March 2006 letter.

We very much hope that you will accept this letter in the constructive spirit in which it is offered and take our above concerns into consideration before the draft 2008 Sporting Regulations are submitted to the World Motor Sport Council for approval. Further, we would be very happy to discuss them with you in a constructive manner at a mutually convenient time and place.

Kind Regards

Yours sincerely

BMW, Honda, McLaren, Renault, Toyota and GPMA.

Please read the Sequel:)

Nice F1 On-Site Photos

My friend, Casey Liew took some really nice photos during this year's F1 at Sepang (ITV commentators like to pronounce it as seeee---peng when it should be ser-parng. 7 years and they still get it wrong! not very bright arent they?). Here's one of photo I leeched from his site. Very nice photo of Montoya, Mr red-hot Colombian. Not so hot since he joined Mclaren. When he was at Williams, we werent sure whether it was him or the car that was less talented. Now that he's at Mclaren, for sure, it's him and not the car. What about Kimi Raikonen? He of the not so blessed fortunes, once again wrecked his rear suspensions and rear wings. This time, it wasnt his fault. Klien of Red Bull was the perpetrator. I think Klien might have taken his team name a bit too seriously.

Entetaining Formula 1 Qualifying Sessions are Back!!!

The Formula 1 qualifying sessions have gone through too many changes these past years (from 12 laps in an hour to parc ferme single-lap qualifying to two parc ferme single-lap qualifying sessions and back to single single-lap qualifying, only a F1 fan can understand and tolerate this ranting!). Well, they've finally got it right this time:)

As I've explained before, now there's 3 sessions and the cars can go out on unlimited amount of laps (but they have to conserve the engine and tires). Sure enough, within the first 15-minute session, drama unfolded. Kimi Raikonen crashed!! It was either due to mechanical failure (faulty rear right suspension) or too many belly-dancing sessions last night for Kimi. Whatever it was, first major scalp claimed in the first new qualifying session of the first race of the season and Kimi will start last on the grid. Ralf Schumacher of Toyota didnt fare too well as well. The session was red-flagged and thank goodness for the rest of the top drivers who were still in garage, the timing stopped as well. 4 minute 34 seconds left. The moment the debri were cleared, there was a massive traffic jam at the pit lane exit as all the drivers rushed to do a lap to get into next session. What a sight! That's the most expensive traffic jam I've seen so far! Nice!

Second session was a bit less dramatic but just as entertaining as the drivers once again come out during the last 3rd-4th minute to do just enough to get into the top 10 for the last session. Final session was interesting as the 10 cars left have to go out in race fuel (i.e. the fuel load that they will start in the race tomorrow. It was all probably calculated using massive supercomputers in the team garages). It was a mini race in itself as drivers then started to go on many laps to burn off the fuel so that the car's weight will reduce again to produce fast laps. Now, this is where F1 becomes a bit too indulgent for my taste. With oil price shooting up like nobody's business, here are 10 cars going round and round achieving no purpose but so they can start in the front row of a race tomorrow. Multiply that by 18 races we're having this season and things dont look too good. However, all in all, there were plenty of action going on in this qualifying. Best I've seen for a long long time! Btw, it was also Schumacher's (the better Schumacher, I mean) 65th pole, equaliing Ayrton Senna's record, which has stood since 1994. Formula 1 is definitely back in the black again!!

A Brand New Challenge

After 3 and 1/2 years in my first job, I've finally decided to accept a new challenge. The projects that I did with Open Source Systems has been amazingly rewarding and it's the best first job a person could have. My new job will be in the Linux/Unix Division in Shell IT International. It's another step towards my dream job, to be involved in Formula One and Ferrari. Previously, most of my projects used AMD processors, so that was as close as it got. Now it's closer. Tomorrow (6/3/2006) will be my first day at work. All the best to myself!

Malaysia's Biggest Practical Joke

or Petronas's desperation to milk even more ringgits from the poor rakyat? Hope both are not true. Couldn't resist being kiasu and succumbed to the rumours. Check out my fellow suffering countrymen here:





Massive queue at Equine Park's Petronas station. 11.30pm













Oi, suddenly got this Red kancil cut in front of me:))

11.45pm











Rupanya my housemate being more KL than me. Hehehe. Suffice to say, she got home earlier than me later:)

11.50pm









Finally settled everything by 12.20am. Great experience! (Am i sick or what???!!) Didnt dare take any more photos once I got to the front of queue. A lot of angry people around:P

Petrol Prices May Go up 30 cents tomorrow morning (28/2/2006)

Guys, this just in from a friend whose friend owns a Petrol Station (I know!) but price of petrol may go up 30 cents tomorrow morning, which is tuesday 28/2/2006. Take it or believe it! My RX-8 (BMW 320i as well) dream moving further and further away!!!

Irresistible Barcelona

Woke up at 4am last night to watch Chelsea vs Barcelona in the last-16 Champions' League round. One word: scintillating. Despite Chelsea playing with 12 men initially (if you include the Stamford Bridge pitch as a player. The pitch was horrendous), Barcelona was just simply a class above. The red card for the Chelsea player, Del Horno was a bit harsh but it was just a matter of time anyway since he was having a hard time containing that young Argentine player, Lionel Messi. It needed 2 own goals in the 2nd half to open up the game and it was finally settled by Samuel Eto'o, who was quiet for 80 minutes and then just suddenly popped out of nowhere to nod in the winning goal. Credit to Chelsea that they did not give up. However, Frank Rijkaard's side was just too good. Seeing how Barcelona play just emphasized how short of ideas the English teams are (Liverpool, Chelsea, MU, Arsenal). Rarely do you see them playing long balls up the field and just hope that they will catch the opponent's defence off-guard. No, this is an intelligent side, with crisp passings, accurate crosses and most importantly, the ability to hold the ball well. Watching Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Deco and Messi play just mesmerizes me completely. Worth the waking up and all. Final score Chelsea 1 Barcelona 2. First defeat for Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge since he took over. Cant wait for the 2nd leg in a fortnight's time.

I Started A Joke - Bee Gees

That in the end, had myself crying. Yup, joke's on me. Few weeks back, I played this joke on my friend who was on the way to Holland. Little did I know I was predicting the score for the FA-Cup 5th round between, yup even got the home-away thing correct, Liverpool and Man U. You can never laugh too soon:) But all in all, it was a good match. Liverpool were slightly better, especially in the midfield and they truly deserved to win. What a cup-tie. This is what FA Cup stuff are made of. It's also actually the first time Liverpool beat United in a FA Cup match since 1921. Congrats, all you Liverfool fans!

JC's piece on the Hard Work that goes on in the background to get Top Gear on air

Very nice piece of article from Jeremy Clarkson on what makes Top Gear, the show on BB2 Sundays so attractive. Loads of info and interesting "insights" for fans to digest. Amazingly, he only mentioned about Hammond's teeth twice. But we do know now that Hamster gets called gay pretty often:))

Petrolheads After Top Gear

You lucky Brits with TV licenses:) There's a new show on BBC 2, right after Top Gear. It's called Petrolheads where a bunch of, you guessed it, petrolheads get together and do some funky stuff on cars. Another new car variety show to "watch". Sneak preview on Top Gear's website.

First Podium for Malaysia in the A1GP at Indonesia

Alex Yoong has finally done Malaysia proud by securing a great 2nd place in the Indonesian A1GP feature race. He also finished 4th in the sprint race. Best results for Malaysia thus far in the A1. Just need to go one more place up after this. Well done!

Yes!!! English Premier League is well alive again!!!

Yes!!!! Middlesborough 3 - Chelsea 0. It's no joke. Steve Mclaren's team has done the unthinkable: giving Jose Mourinho's Chelski something to think about. Please, Portsmouth, West Brom, Tottenham and co, learn something from Boro, Man U and Charlton.

Remember 12th February

There will be a special Top Gear episode on the 12th February in conjunction with the Winter Olympics which will kick off on the same day. The theme of this episode? Winter Olympics, of course. Source from Times Online. Nice!

Top Gear Top Tip

Here's a Top Gear Top Tip. If you like Top Gear, go to FinalGear for its latest "news";)

Another Promising F1 Season in Store

So many changes will be seen in F1 2006. Amongst them:

• Biggest change is the engine step-down from V10 3-litre to V8 2.4 litre. This change even made Ferrari swap their usual chassis naming from FXXXX (where XXXX is the year of competition. E.g F2005 for season 2005) to 248 F1. The 24 represents the 2.4 litre and the number 8 represents the 8 cylinders in the new engine
• Qualifying format will once again be changed where there'll be 3 stages (2 15-minute sessions and 1 20-minute session) in the the 1-hour session. 1st 15 minutes will be see everyone go out in with any amount of fuel they like and do as many laps as they wish. Bottom 6 will then be knocked-out and take the bottom 6 places for the race the next day. Second session will be the same as well with 16 drivers competing and the slowest 6 be knocked out again. The 12 drivers who were knocked out are allowed to put any amount of fuel they like. The last session will see the top 10 drivers slug it out for the 10 spots with again, no restriction on the number of laps. The only condition is that they must enter the session with the amount of fuel in which they intend to start the race the next day. At then end of the session, they are allowed to fill up to the original amount of fuel. Nice!
• Tyre changing. Michelin-shod team fans wont be happy but Bridgestone fans will be shouting for joy. Drivers can change tyres once again during race. This should make the races more interesting.
• First race of the year will be at Bahrain. Australia is hosting the Commonwealth games this year during March. So the first race will be held at Bahrain (+3GMT). Will be interesting. New cars, lots of sand, new rules, rusty drivers. Nice!

So many things to look forward to. So many drivers I wanna see them do well (M Schumacher, Alonso, Raikonen, Fisichella, Button). I'm hoping that Schummi will win this season and retire at the end. He'll retire with glory with 8 championship wins and let the younger drivers have a go in future seasons. I would like to see Raikonen switch to Ferari in 2007 teaming up with Rossi or Massa. That's my hope. Well, you never know in F1. That's the appeal of it, I guess. All eyes will be glued to Bahrain on March 12 2006. Cant wait!!!!

Liverpool 1 Manchester United 0

Two things wrong about my title. First of all, it was played at Old Trafford. Second of all, the scoreline's the other way round. However, I sent this exact message through SMS to my housemate. What's the big deal you might ask? First of all, he's a big Liverpool fan. Second of all, he was on the way to Holland when the match was played. I could imagine his smugness when the first SMS he received was this score the moment he turned on his phone in Holland. Well, apparently this smugness was there till today (Tuesday) cause he didnt had the chance the check the Net. What a great housemate he has, isnt it.

Which brings me nicely to the enigma of the current MU team. In the 90s, they would always sweep aside all the lesser teams but fall victim to the bigger teams like Arsenal and Liverpool. However, the points they accumulate against the smaller teams would make them Champions by March or April. Well, the tables have turned, boys. Nowadays, it's the other way round. Dogged, determined and fantastic against Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool but dreadful against Blackburn, Middlesborough and Man City (of all bloody teams). Plus the scores of draws they accumulated.

What's lacking? Class and consistency. First half against Liverpool was atrocious and it's very obvious that the midfield just isnt working. Defending by Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand (quite a "lazy" hero, according to that Sleazy Swedish Sven) was superb. Rooney and Ruud were trying their best. It's midfield that let MU down in the first half. I mean, it used to be Giggs, Scholes, Keane and Beckham. Come on, Richardson, Giggs, O'Shea and Fletcher??!! Doubt their names will strike any fear in any other teams. Second half performance was so much better when O'Shea was taken out and replaced by Louis Saha. Rooney's switch to the right-side of midfield didnt do much of a difference since he was everywhere most of the time.

And consistency. Great one match and grubby the other. The story of Manchester United 2005/2006. Wednesday's cup-tie against Blackburn at Old Trafford? Predictable? Not a chance, mate.

Anyway, I'm sure well Sir Alex is more aware than anyone of this midfield problem. Just hope the Glazers still have some small change to buy one or two good central midfielders despite the 500 million pounds debt they have by buying MU. MU fans, don't hold your breath unless the Glazers struck oil in Tampa Bay's stadium:P

Football Sites

Wanna start by sharing these two sites which keeps me occupied everyday (except days when United lose. In case you don't know what team I support, just look at the screenshots below). Everything you wanna know about football are in these two sites. Transfer deals, "rumoured" transfer deals, results, tables, fixtures, injuries. You name em, they got em.

Soccernet:

Ever since I've started using the net for soccer news in 1996 (in fact at that time, it was the only reason I was using the internet. Pathetic, i know), Soccernet has always been my source of information. Run by ESPN now (used to be maintain by British fans or a British company, hence the emphasis on EPL, supposedly the most exciting league in the world), it loads very fast, has very up-to-date news and has all the information a football fan needs. I like the bit where you can customize your favourite team so that news about that particular team appears in a separate column (great for quick scans on your team's ongoings).

Drawback:
Created with Microsoft ASP and runs on IIS. Therefore, rendering of pages on non-IE browsers can be very screwed-up. In fact, you cant browse the pages with Apple's Safari browser at all due to the way it handles redirection.


Teamtalk:

If Soccernet doesnt fulfill you, head on to Teamtalk. Teamtalk is more news-centric, they seem to pick up more details on nitty-gritty stuff. Just like soccernet, they have dedicated pages for each team and these pages seem to have more stuff on your favourite team.

Drawback:
Always loads some Java applet(s), which in turn runs the Java Runtime Environment if you've installed it. This eats up loads of memory and CPU. Especially with Firefox, where you tend to open many pages in multiple tabs at once. But nice about Firefox is that disabling Java is also straight forward: Tools-> Options-> Content->Enable Java (untick this). Do this and Teamtalk loads without any problem.

I'm sure everyone has their own favourite football sites. Please share them if you will:))

New Focus

Suddenly felt that my blog is very directionless. So, from now on, I wanna go fulltime into 2 areas, which I feel extremely passionate about. Football and cars (hence the new blog title:) ) . Will be posting stuff about these two stuff only. I really got a lot to say about these two things since they consume a lot of my attention. Of course, occasionally, I'll still blast about something totally out of the topic;)

Why Art Thou So Slow, Apple Malaysia

Apple US:



Apple Singapore:


Apple Malaysia?


One of the many reasons why I think I'm Stuck In Malaysia;)

Another Feather On Jeremy's Bird's Nest Cap

He has been known to make one's blood boil (think Transport Ministries, environmentalists). He has been known to destroy, annihiliate cars (think Perodua Kelisa, Nissan Sunny, Bugatti Veyron(well initially, at least)). Well, he's got another achievement now besides that honorary doctorate from Oxford. Read more about it here. And it's all due to my careless YM broadcast:))

The World is Watching the MacWorld

Hours before Steve Jobs monumental keynote at the Macworld San Francisco 2006. Got this screenshot of the Apple Store:)


There's also the new MacRumorLive page created by MacRumor specially to cover MWSF. Neat! Rumours are flying hard here and there on other sites as well. Stay tuned!

All Your Wall Are Be Projected

Found this interesting projector from Viewsonic through Yahoo's Consumer Electronic Show (CES) roundup. The PJ106D, "One-Pound DLP Projector" (for more effects, imagine Russell Peters announcing it in his Hong-Kee accent:P) is a battery-powered (rechargeable battery supposedly last 2.5 hours), lightweight (obviously, 1lb without battery, 3.6lb with battery) portable projector. Nice!

Be Cool

If you havent watched Be Cool, you should cause it's so blardy funny. John Travolta is cool as usual, Uma Thurman is hot hot hot as usual with dam funny antics by Vince Vaughn (Flea Diddy) and The Rock (gay actor-wannabe). Even Steven Tyler gives a cameo appearance and mocks himself. Full of funny quotable quotes as well, if you know what i'm saying, when i'm sayin it. Y'all dig that!

Aston Martin Rapide

If you always wanted an Aston Martin but dont want to look like a pimp for child prostituition when you bring your kids out, well worry no more....cause we now have the Aston Martin Rapide, a 4-door version of the lovely, absolutely fantastic Aston Martin DB9:


Photo was taken from Top Gear and article on the Aston is here. Beware, Mercedes CLS, Jaguar XJ and the lot. Here comes Aston Martin's winner.

What is backmasking?

Backmasking is a technique that supposedly implants sublimal messages into songs when they are played backwards. According to Wikipedia, it is used by Christian Rock bands , secular rock bands and even pop singers to send a message across to their fans. It such a pervasive technique that Sox, a commandline audio manipulating software, pokes fun of it as seen below:



Here are some samples if you really wanna listen. Do so after reading the link to wikipedia. Some guy even backmasked Jingle bells. LOL!

Test Your Love Compatibility

Found this interesting site to test your love compatibility. All the best!

Intel: Leap Ahead

Finally, after all the Intel Inside, Idiot Outside jokes, Intel has decided that the best way to counter AMD's better technology (at least on the desktop and server processors) and celebrate their new partnership with Apple is by changing some marketing and branding strategies. Yes, new logo and new slogan. Intel: Leap Ahead (but lag behind AMD). Found out from Engadget. Original article at Reuter.

Who is the Stig

Suddenly got curious about who is the Stig. I asked google and I got an aswer:) Click the following links only if you're really curious like me:
1. Old Stig
2. New Stig

And it looks like I'm not the only curious one around:))

Dear Aslan

Hi! Edmund here. How are things in Narnia? Are the Talking Animals giving you non-stop problems again, Aslan? Well, don worry too much about it cause you are the greatest King ever. Nothing is ever too big a problem for you:)

Things are improving here in England. The war's over and Finchley is getting back to normal again. We got this guy, Winston Churchil, rallying the whole of England to pick ourselves up again. He's like High King Peter really. I'm really proud of that brother of mine.

Anyway, i know only girls do these kind of things but I wanna thank you for literally sticking out your neck for me. You didnt need to do it for me but you did. That's why you're a chum and a smashing lion!

The war has left quite a big damage to England and many other countries. So many people died and families torn apart. Sometimes, I wish that you would come here and make things right. Just like in Narnia, you will remove all evil and set things right here. I told this to Lucy and she said "You can't force Aslan. He's never a tame lion, you know". That's why you're so magnificent, Aslan. You didnt need to sacrifice for me and you did.

Well, guess what Aslan, I found you out! You are here in our world as well as in Narnia. You have chosen to use another name but I know you. You are called Jesus in this world. You came as a human to make an impact on all of us staying in this world. Your blood and your death 2000 years ago here redeemed all our lives just like your death by the White Witch redeemed mine in Narnia. The Deep Magic is indeed present here as well as in Narnia.

So, Aslan/Jesus, your birthday on earth is coming up soon. Here's an early Happy Birthday! May your whiskers and fur be as shiny as ever:)

Yours forever,

Edmund the Just
High King of Narnia

Book Review: Developing the Leader Within You (John C Maxwell)

As part of my cell leadership intern training in DUMC, I had to read this book and do a book report. After a 3-month delay, here it is finally:) I think for people who are not natural-born leaders like me, it will really help a lot, especially if somehow you keep getting leadership responsilibities whether you like it or not:P

Book Report: Developing the Leader Within You

This book by John C. Maxwell is a very powerful book and it captivated me the moment I started reading it. I guess, being someone who reads more fictional books than non-fictional, I have never known the inspiration that these books can provide. Although the later chapters took much longer than expected to finish, overall it still gives very well-defined ideas on the areas to develop to become a good and even great leader.

I have been deeply inspired by the teachings of this book and have started applying some of the philosophies introduced and they have been wonderful to my daily leadership requirements. It really came at a right time for me as I started to take on more leadership responsibilities at work, in my cell group and family. By concentrating on the few areas specified in this book, I became more comfortable in leading my engineers or cell members. My willingness to lead has also, as a result, increased as I now know the expectations that people have of a leader.

The following are some key areas where I found to be really useful. It is not that others are not useful but at this point of time, these areas are important in my own personal development as a leader.

The Need for Leadership

“The key to success in any endeavour is the ability to lead others successfully”. Simple words and yet they clearly defined the importance of leadership. These words gave me a very clear perspective of what is expected of a leader, that basically, everything rises and falls on leadership. The best hope that John C Maxwell could give to readers is that, leadership is teachable and learnable, an encouraging theme to people who are not naturally-born leaders like me.

Influence

Like it or not, a person will directly or indirectly influence another for good and/or for bad. In return, he/she will be influenced by others as well. This is a very key area in leadership as when a leader can positively influence his/her followers, he/she can then inspire them to do great things. John Maxwell defined 5 levels of influences (Position, Permission, Production, People Development and Personhood). These levels give leaders clear objectives on becoming an effective leader through positive influences.

Attitude

A leader’s attitude is very important in the make or break of his/her leadership. This is one area which the book has helped me to develop a lot. It made me realise that in certain areas, I needed plenty of work. Impatience in getting results and slackness in time management were some of my main problems. After reading this section, I have decided to put in some changes in my work and life and they seemed to be working. For example, I stopped using the snooze button on my alarm and will now start my morning with a short prayer and go off for a shower immediately. This was as opposed to before where I would snooze for almost 20 minutes before deciding to wake up.

Making Positive Changes

A leader is only effective in his/her role only when he/she is making positive changes to the surroundings. I felt that this is totally in line with DUMC’s motto of “seeing a need, meet it and see a hurt, heal it”. The fact that my efforts to be a better leader and hence, a person will have positive effects on others deeply encourages me and this has become my main objective in leadership.

Vision

Setting a reachable vision with clearly defined objectives is very important as it provides a checklist whether a leader and his/her followers are on target or not in their work. A vision, as John puts it very nicely, is a picture that a leader sees in his/her mind. A leader without vision is like a person without sight and hence will lead others blindly. A very clear case of “blind leading the blind” indeed.

People Development

Ultimately, I felt the most important message of this book is that, a leader can only be effective when he puts clear focus on people development. By teaching others to do and do it well rather than doing it myself all the time, I am developing more leaders and as the saying goes “many hands make light work”. Being very result-oriented and impatient previously, it has taken me quite a while to adjust to this mindset but I believe in the long run, this ability will stand me in good time as I take on even more responsibilities in life.

Conclusion

This book is indeed inspiring, encouraging and yet practical in leadership training. The well-illustrated examples and leadership models in the book provided a very clear idea on what great leaders had in common. The ability to inspire, to make positive changes, to have great attitudes, to set visions and most of all, to develop more great leaders.

Top Gayer

Oh my God, macam ni pun boleh!!

Girl From Ipoh: A Resounding Success

Just finished watching a wonderful wonderful musical (the producers call this new style Pop Theatre) called Girl From Ipoh at the KL Performing Arts Centre. The experience was simply amazing. This is a very well-crafted tongue-in-cheek play with everything I like in it. First things first: StoryLine. Once again, familiar and yet originally told. Briefly, it's about a Chinese girl from Ipoh (what else u expect la:P) called Wong Mei Lee, who doesnt really know how to be a Chinese. She fantasizes about Western worlds (not a Hor Fan seller's daughter helping out at the stall), being rich, famous and wanted as a kid and teenager. And when she finally grew up, her love life was also pretty messed up as she tries to find the meaning of love and of course, finding it in the wrong place, wrong person using the wrong ways.

So, what's really special about this play then, since I've been harping on it so much. Well, for a starters, try to fathom this: the main actress, Carmen Soo (more about her later;)) , playing Mei Lee isn't really playing her since Carmen is actually playing Mei Lee, in Mei Lee's mind!! Look at Carmen's character sort of like a phsychological alter ego or whatever. Actually what I'm trying to say is, the whole story was actually set in the real Mei Lee's mind. Told from her imagination and memories. Cool or what!! Which kinda explained why the poster for the promo looked so weird. Hehehe. I especially love the ending (spoilers ahead, don read the remaining of this paragraph if you're gonna watch it). It's where the real Mei Lee (who is chubbier, shorter and not-so-prettier:P, played by producer Cindy Chin) comes out and actually jolt her alter ego a bit so that she'll stop pitying herself. And I really like the part where
she says "it was because of her body, her face (meaning Carmen) and my story, taht's why it attracted so much attention..." Hmmm... ya I know, most of us are superficial people, tending to look at things at the skin-level. Guilty as charged:">

The other cool thing which has to be mentioned is the entire story was accompanied by a very talented group of A capella singers called the LiT Performers. So depending on Mei Lee's mood, these ladies will render different types of tune to suit the mood. No background music or percussions, just their voices. Familliar tunes like Pretty Woman, Under The Boardwalk and even some Teressa Teng tunes captivated the audience non-stop. These ladies even do translation as Mei Lee's dad speaks purely in Cantonese. Really nice and suitable. It really made the whole show unique as it's not a full musical where the actors sing but at the same time, there's a lot of interaction between the music and the whole storyline. I'm not sure if I'm giving the proper credits but one just needs to be there to know how it really feels.

And speaking about acting, I really have to commend Carmen Soo for a job well done. Not only is she pretty, she also delivers as the main actress. Every expression and action is well acted out. I think most of the guys (me especially) were bowled over by this cute looking chick. Of course, me having the opportunity to sit at front row (yup, worth every single cent of the RM48 and more), get to see her even much closer:D

And what do you know;) I even get to take a picture with her:

I know, the quality dam cacat, which was a very big pity. Blame it on my lousy camera phone and my colleague who went with me:))

It was indeed a happy-ever-after-ending for my night. Ya, i'm still grinning non-stop as I'm writing this piece now.

Kudos to Integrated Expressions for putting up such a refined show. They've really shown what Malaysian talents can really do with enough resources. Guys, still got time tomorrow (13/11/2005) to catch the show. You really don wanna miss it. You don need to be Mr/Miss Artsy-Fartsy to enjoy this. The crowd tonight was superb. Mostly average Malaysians like me. We were all very responsive and yet not-Ah-Beng-ish (no cat whistles during "intense" moments (most of them involving Carmen:P) of the show and all).

KLPAC is also a very beautiful place and rather romantic, with a Japanese restaurant in it as well. Miss this whole show and experience at your own risk!

Mclaren loses Adrian Newey to Red Bull for 2006

Squadro Toro Rosso (Red Bull in Italian) has just scored a big coup by pullling Mclaren's chief designer, Adrian Newey to their team next season onwards. Wow!!! As Simon Cowell said, "it's the surprise of the century". Not exactly really cause Adrian had actually wanted to leave for Jaguar (Red Bull then) in year 2001. Bored with Mercedes's screwed up engines already. Who can blame the guy. I mean, imagine if you've created a formula that will win you the Nobel Prize but in the end, you didnt get it because your research sent in the report written/printed on toilet paper. Erm, very shitty example, I know but brain not working too well now:P Anyway, what does it mean for F1 next season? More drama la! Man, Can't wait for Bahrain 2006 already.

Just when you thought it isnt worth watching anymore

Well, best match I've seen from MU since beating Arsenal at home. Final score: MU 1 Chelsea 0. Of course, this doesnt really mean anything from the League point of view except that MU is "only" 10 points behind Chelsea and 4 points behind Wigan (yes, I didnt make a mistake). Guess that's why people can never stop watching football. Football, bloody hell!

Finding your way around Kuala Lumpur

Without really realising it, I've been living in the Klang Valley for almost 6 years (shit, even I got a shock when i did the arithmetics). The first 3 years spent at cyberjaya didnt really give me a chance to explore KL city. I remember I could only go to a limited number of places (KLCC, Low Yat (this one also thru that stupid Jalan Pudu with its always-red-traffic-lights), Midvalley, SS2, 1-U). I had no idea how each place was really like relative to another. However, my work has allowed me to travel quite a lot and I now find myself almost a full-fledged KL driver:). The sense of satisfaction of now being able to map out my journey in KL is pretty cool. Of course, sometimes the fact that we know too much complicate things a bit but generally I'm pretty efficient now getting aboutKL. But I don't think I could have done without Street Directory's KL Map. Unfortunately, they've removed the KL maps already and so, now I have to rely on Google and some pretty cool contributions from this site, Malaxi. Hope for those who are new to driving in KL, this will be a gem for you:)

Old Man Catching Up with the Chinese Music Scene

I've found myself suddenly very attracted to Chinese pop songs again. Must be the amount of spare time I have nowadays:)) Of course, most of the songs/singers I know are like out of date and probably growing fungus already. So, I sort of started listening full time to chinese radio stations on the car again and found out... Wow.. not bad lah! Compared to 5 years back (yes, it has been that long:P), the music variety has increased quite a lot. People like Zhang Z-Chen (local R&B singer), Stephanie Sun (not exactly new), Jolin Tsai (what a surname), Five Month Day (I kid you not! Sounds more cool in chinese I guess. It's a Pop-rock band anyway), Fish Leong (local singer with bad English name), Penny Tai (Once a upon of time, she was sort of an acquiantance. Should have asked for her Autograph then. Better steal, should have stolen her IC or something:P) are making my life a bit more melo-dramatic nowadays. Anyway, catching up again isnt so bad. Quality of the songs isnt too bad as well. Cheesy pop songs will always be there but the maturity is there too. Guess, the fans who have started listening in their teens back in 90s have grown up (like moi) and so the market is more sophisticated already (I hope). People can accomodate more differences in styles. Probably also because new fans (guys/gals in their puberty, I mean teenage years) are more demanding as well. Anyway, at least now maybe the songs I choose in Karaoke wont take so long to load since I, aherm, am now trying to learn a few new tunes meself;)

Salute, Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988)

Just watched an extremely good movie titled Ferrari. Yup, you guessed correct, it's related to the car that everyone knows about, the prancing horse, Michael Schumacher, Formula One, Austria 2002, Indianapolis 2002, 360 Modena but this movie went way before that. This movie was about Enzo Ferrari, not the car but the founder himself. Man, after watching this movie, my admiration and appreciation of the Ferrari legacy has gone up even more.

The movie appropriately starts with a Ferrari Formula One car going out in testing and we then see Enzo, already in his 70s, holding a classic stop watch. As the car zooms past him, he stops the timer and looks at it. His son, Piero then comes up to him and asked how is it. Enzo promptly said' great, everything's great but add a second to the lap time when you talk to the driver later". Well brilliant start to a movie (if you're a ferrari or racing fan:P). The movie then goes on to when Enzo somehow allowed a mysterious journalist to interview him. Enzo never allowed any reporters to get near him as he thinks they are pest and he quite blatantly tells them so all the time. So, it's quite amzing that he allowed this young chap to interview him. And this is where the movie really kicks off. Enzo starts to tell his story. About his childhood (watching Vincenzo Lancia battle Felice Nazarro in the 1908 Circuit di Bologna), his young days (racing CMN cars in small events and "almost" winning), his triumphs (winning a race with his first son, Dino (still an infant) in his hands), his losses (deaths of his son and designer).

What I like about this movie:

Great acting
Sergio Castellitto is simply amazing as Enzo Ferrari although due to Sergio's age, his portrayal of young Enzo was a tad less convincing but middle-aged onwards, perfectly marvellous. He carried this movie really well. The other actors were all ok as well but Sergio Castellitto was the main driver in this movie (pun intended:P)

Great lines
Only Italian movies or movies about Italians can have brilliant lines such as "Without women, the engines wont even start" and "The Ford deal went to hell. They want to be the bosses in this house and I wont allow that". Mama mia!

Great scenes
Best was the one when after the death of Vittorio Jano, Ferrari's main engine designer, Enzo went to the Ferrari factory and made all the engineers revved up all the engines at once. You need to be a petrol-head to understand the significance of that. And of course, the scene where Enzo declined to sign the agreement to sell Ferrari to Ford at the last second after realizing that his lawyers didnt read the fine-print properly. Enzo was still supposed to take care of the sports car division and have a free reign over it. But agreement still insisted that he had a 100k budget cap. Above that, have to consult Detroit. Of course, later on, Ford went on to make the GT40 and whipped Ferrari nicely in many a Le Mans race but that's a different story altogether. One other touching moment was where Enzo saw his brilliant young driver Gilles Villeneuve bringing his family, wife Joanna, son Jacques (ya, that canadian driver) and daughter Melanie, to the track. Enzo then tried to hint to Gilles to take it easy on the track and value his family. Of course, as we all unfortunately know, Gilles Villeneuve died on the track in 1982 while in a Ferrari.

Enzo's success definitely didn't come without a price. There were many deaths (son Dino, engine designer Vittorio, Gilles, test driver Marco Guigni etc). The last scene poignantly had Enzo saying "There is no triumph or glory in the world that's worth an inch of human skin".