KL International Motorshow 2006 (KLIMS06)

Went to KLIMS06 on Tuesday with Farul, my ex-manager and soon to be colleague again at Shell. Had to wake up at 6.00am to start work at 7.00am and skipped lunch to finish work at 3.00pm for the show. Borrowed an Olympus 10x from a church member to take some photos. The rechargeable batteries finished their by the 10th picture. Had to pay exorbitant price for batteries at the counter. Lost the camera bag and had to buy a replacement one. So the experience? Worth it! Would do the same thing again if given another chance! Especially since I also received my scholarship results that same night! But enough about me. The photos:

First, concept cars:

Honda's FCX Concept Car... 4-door Lambo-wannabe?

Volvo's 3CC - 3-seater Coupe with very cool wing doors

Nissan's Sports Car Concept - Nothing special really

Our very own Proton/Lotus APX - it'll probably the only car that Proton wont sell locally:P

Cars you dont see on the road everyday or most likely none at all:P

I'm a very ugly Frog 430 but I can go from 0-100km/h in 4.0sec

I drove this before ...err in a game. Love the speed and handling. It's a bit scary even in a game:P

Lamborghini Gallardo - My 2nd car ... err in the same game. Fantastic handling! Love it!

I've confirmed scientifically that a 6-footer will not be able to sit properly at the back of a Mercedes CLS. At least not without bumping his/her head at every pothole. No worries. Most Malaysians are 4-feet tall anyway:P

Black Mclaren SLR - sleek and silky. Sigh!

Bentley Continental GT - The cabriolet version has already been sold out for a year even before entering production. There are that many rich people who can afford a RM2million car in this world. Double sigh!

Something a bit more realistic - The Ford Focus ST, £17k and comes with a turbo-charged 2.5L engine. Very desirable except for the name (ST could possibly stand for Sanitary Towel:P)

Pagani Zonda - If you buy one of these, you'll get a personal delivery from Mr Zonda himself, who had dedicately handcrafted this car for you;)

Ferrari F60, or more normally known as the Enz0. It's a legalized F1 road car actually:P

Speaking of F1, if you buy one of these ...

... it comes with its own personal bridgestone "tyres":))

Since we're on the topic of "tires", check out the usual car babes. Not really my focus that day, just took a few for my Shell friends:P

Volvo babes

Toyota babe

Nissan's sales lady - I kid you not:P

Last but not least, check out the Volvo C70's amazing roof that goes down/comes up in 25secs.

Not much space for a golf bag if you "let your roof down". The FCUK model was purely unintentional:P

Almost forgot, more photos at Flickr.

The Accidental Swimmer

Shell IT is currently having its Inter-Departmental competitions with events such as karting, ping-pong and athletics going on these few months. I'm having a ball of a time cause it's really a great opportunity for some de-stressing and networking with the rest of 1400 staff around. This weekend, we had a swimming competition at the National Aquatic Centre at the National White Elephant stadium, Bukit Jalil.

I went there to cheer for my housemate but lo and behold, the moment I reached there, I was greeted with some anxious-looking faces cause one of the team swimmer, who was unfortunately in my actual working department (Global Linux/Unix, we're hiring Linux/Unix System Administrators, btw) had Fong-Fei-Kei-ed (cantonese for renegading on a deal/promise, it's acronym, FFK, is also used pretty often in conversations). If there's not enough swimmers in the team, we would be losing quite a few points due to non-participation. So, no choice lor, I was volunteered (this is gramatically correct:P). But honestly speaking, I had quite a lot of fun and there wasnt much pressure cause I was in 2 relay races and everytime it was my turn to swim, the opponents were already like 10-20 seconds ahead. Of course I still gave my all lah. I think the spirit of participation and teamwork really shined through during the competition, so in the end, it was more my honour and privilege to be part of such a special occasion than me saving the day or whatsoever (no unexpected heroic victories here:P my housemate did win one of the relays and he was the anchorman. So i did get some 2nd-hand glory. No complains there:)). And this did prove, ahem, that my current twice-weekly gym sessions seem to be bearing fruits.

As a treat to reading this boring article let me share an interesting-looking picture, which i took from my loyal camera-phone while I was exploring the Aquatic Centre:


If there's any gauge of the typical Malaysian maturity, this poor door-sign says it all. This was a sign at the Doping Control room. The Malay translation "Kawalan Dadah" has been reworked and now says "Awalan Dada", which means Early Boobs (we're not even witty in our vandalism, that's even sadder:P). Considering that this is a National Sports Centre, used for an international sporting event 8 years ago (Commonwealth 98) and is still being used for "occasional" international swimming events, you would expect better maintenance. Of course, one could argue that the probability of a foreigner understanding Bahasa Malaysia is lower than the moon going off its axis and striking the earth, landing at the White House or Pentagon (especially if its a Hollywood movie). Well, nuff said! All the best to Visit Malaysia 2007. Hopefully I'll be some-place else by then:))

Photos of the event:

Immigrants who have just came on-shore and are being registered:P

Orange is the flavour of the day;)

The Weekend Where Schumacher Lost and Regained His Reputation

The Michael Schumacher of mid-90s reared his ugly head on Saturday's Monaco GP qualifying session again. Sensing that Alonso maybe quicker than him in the final qualifying lap, he decided to let his car do its own thinking abit and let it went out of control. He controlled it just enough so that he could park his car near a corner and spoilt Alonso's lap. Probably partly accidental and partly intentional. The Stewards though were not as stupid they used to be as Schumacher realised. They were able to analyze his car data, videos and concluded that he did indeed do it on purpose and took away Schumacher's pole position and demoted him to the back of the grid, letting Alonso win the GP quite easily on Sunday.

Having been called a cheat and having the Schumo-Schumi (crafty one) tag back on his name from the German dailies, he could have easily decided not to turn up for the race on Sunday. The racer in him didnt allow him to do it though. And Schumacher showed once again why is he such a special one. He provided the most entertainment in the closing laps, unlaping himself from race leader Alonso, set the fastest lap and did some cool overtaking moves. Which kinda makes you wonder why he need to do his "accident" on Saturday. Guess old habits die hard but something dies even harder, that is the racing spirit in him! The talent and willpower is just so amazing for someone who has been doing it for 17 years, having won everything that is to win in Formula 1, claiming all possible records. And for that, I respect him so so tremendously.

The Day When Soul Won over Pheever

Yes!!! The Soul Patrolman has triumphed over McPheever (more like McFaker actually). For the first time in American Idol's 5-year history, a white guy is allowed to win (beating the conspiracy theory that when you put a white guy in a final vs any minority (female, Hispanic), the white guy gotta lose due to political correctness:P). Of course, this aint no normal white guy. He was the underdog when American Idol 5 began with Simon Cowell blatantly saying that Taylor Hicks will never make it to the final audition. Well, he won over the crowd using his own style of singing and the fantastic tendency to dance it out. And what daya known. Simon Cowell was the one who finally affirmed Taylor as the American Idol before even the votes started coming in. Now, that's show business! There is without a doubt that there's market for soul music as seen by the votes garnered by Hicks Once again, kudos to Grey-Hair!

Hope it's Hicks

The American Idol Grand Finale was finally over. Now it's left to America to vote. Results will be out 12.00am GMT (25th May 2006). Based on last night's performance, it has to be Taylor Hicks. I really hope so. For 2 seasons when it's a guy vs girl final, the girl has always won ( Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood). This time must be different because really don't wanna see a fake Idol put on the pedestal. Looks like even Katherine McPhee has gotten a bit tired of herself as well with the way she sang last night. Really love the singing style of Taylor Hicks. Soul Patrol! Soul Patrol! Grey-hair rulez!

Zhng My Car[update]

Found this very interesting site through Casey. Mr Brown's got a radio show called Zhng My Car ala MTV's Pimp My Ride but singaporized:))
Here are direct links to the 8 episodes so far:
1. Episode 1
2. Episode 2
3. Episode 3
4. Episode 4
5. Episode 5
6. Episode 6
7. Episode 7
8. Episode 8 (new one)

For more shows go to mrbrownshow.blogspot.com...

Da Vinci Code: Beneath That Smile

Shirley had a great post on separating the facts from fictions in the Da Vinci Code. Great job, girl!

Google Analytics

I've been using Google Analytics (G-Anal for short:P) to track my blog for quite a while. It's a extremely well made piece of software, as you would expect from Google. The amount of information that can be collected is quite amazing. But what's even more amazing is the simple and effective manner these information are presented. The following images show some of the stuff G-Anal can do, the ones where I can understand at least. They have various summaries (called dashboards) for different types of roles involved in a website (executive for the CEO/Managers, webmasters and marketeer for the marketing people). So far, the elligibility to use the software is by invitation. You just need to go to the website and register your interest. After that? Just wait:) After 1-2 months, you'll get an invitation:)

Main dashboard, (clockwise from top left) showing visits/pageviews, new vs returning visitors, referrals and geogrphical overlay of visitors

Webmasters would like to know which pages are more popular

Looks like a bit of promoting at Project Petaling Street helped my website quite a bit:)

How to pack a bomb's raw materials in a box:P

Because a mutual friend was coming back to Malaysia for a holiday, I helped my fellow geeks in UK to get quite a bit of USB gadgets. These stuff are pretty expensive in UK. The breakdown include:

• USB Mug Warmer/Hub (as you can see in the link, it's £12.95. I got it for 1/2 the price at Unicgift, found through Google:)) - 2 units (I bought one myself to keep my daily dose of Milo warm)
• USB 2.0 Hub - 2 units
• USB Light - 2 units
  
• USB-to-Serial converter - 1 unit
• RJ45 Cross Converter - 1 unit
  
• RJ45 Cross Cable - 1 unit

Don ask geeks why they need all these, they just do:))

All, in all when you put them all together, they look like raw materials to make a bomb.

USB Hub (top) and Mug-Warmer/Hub (below)
Clockwise from left: USB Light, Cross Converter, USB-to-Serial Converter, USB Hubs and RJ45 Cross Cable

After packing in a DVD burner box, they do look quite dangerous. Hope my friend will have a safe trip through the British Customs:))

Sealed, To Be Signed and To Be Delivered:)

Are You Not Impressed with American Idol?

While waiting for the new season of Top Gear, I was absolutely bored with "Internet TV":P. And so for the first time, I started watching American Idol. Pretty surprising that it took me five years to discover what others have been raving about but I guess, it's all ok in my own bubble world:))

Kellie-mania is still in vogue!

Gotta admit the main reason I got hooked was because of country girl Kellie Pickler, who illicits as much love and adoration as disgust and contempt amongst AI fans. She's a really sweet girl who just loves music and have had quite a tough time growing up. But she is for sure, the most likeable contestant in Season 5 (Don't believe me, try Google's very cool Google Trends, which tells you what is more trendy when you compare two search terms. See Kellie vs Katherine). She has a wonderful voice but lacks the polished training/talent that some of the others had but she did makee it to the top 6 and that's as high as she has thoroughly deserved. Whether she is really that innocent or as Simon calls her, "naughty little minx". Or she's just putting up an act, dishing out country pronunciation of calamari and what not, she's still the most interesting:) But who am I to judge, I'm biased anyway:)

Soul Patrol! Soul Patrol!
Alan: White is cool! White is cool!

So, the final is next week and it's between Soul Patrol man, Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPheever. I gotta say, I simply admire Taylor Hicks. He has proved two important things in my opinion,
1. That in Hollywood, people do love you because of your talent and personality. And as America has voted, they like what they see in Taylor. Amazing voice and the tendency to dance it out has given a breast of fresh ass, a breath of fresh air to entertainment.
2. Most of important of all, Taylor shows that white hair can be cool!!!! And that won him my vote already:))

The only time Katherine looks more human than giant:P

Now, Katherine McPhee has an amzing voice as well but I think she has a personality problem. I thin if anyone bothers to watch back the Hollywood audition episodes, she was kinda bitchy then. When the top 24 started, she suddenly turned into sweet girl-next-door. Now, that's what I call a FAKE American Idol but no disrespect, she is as talented as Taylor.

And so, on to the finals on May 23. I cant wait for it to come. May the best performer of the night win!

For once, the white guy with the white hair gets the girl!!:))

New Macbook is out

The ibook replacement, now called the Macbook is finally out!!!!!! The specs are not so surprising with a 1.83GHz Core Duo White ($1099), a 2.0GHz Core Duo White ($1299) and check this out, a 2.0GHz Core Duo Black ($1499) as seen in the pics. How cool is that?? The other specs are standard. The only grouse is of course, the choice of using the Intel Integrated Graphics. Having had such bad experience with it long time ago, I don fancy you can do much graphics stuff with it. Hope I'm wrong. definitely getting the black one!!

Classic Formula1 season ahead

Ferrari vs Renault
Red vs Blue
Bridgestone vs Michelin
Best of all, Former World Champion vs Current World Champion

There is just so much similarity between Schumacher and Alonso, it's almost scary. They have both won their driver's championship by age 25 with the same team (Renault/Bennetton) under the same manager (Flavio Briatore). Both are superfast, not just fast but meticulously and intelligently fast. They're always thinking of their championship strategy and then race strategy. The Spanish GP really set them apart from their team mates who are just plain ordinary F1 drivers. Alonso of course deserves all respect from all fans from the manner he has taken over the mantle from Schumacher. Would be nice to have them both in the same car but that is totally impossible with Alonso going to Mclaren and Schummi possibly staying in Ferrari.

But Alonso is quite a character with his victory celebration antics. Last year he had a habit of counting his number of victories thus far with his fingers while in the car. This year, he has decided to go animal. In Bahrain, he imitated the grinch as seen below. The animal rights people claimed he was imitating a bullfighter. In Australia, he imitated a kangaroo, putting his fingers to his head and wiggling them while bowing (cant get a photo of that, pity). In Spain where he had just become the first Spaniard to win his home GP, he imitated a bear/ape walking. Hahahaha. He's a great guy. Better than Schumacher knocking people out of races (think Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve) when he was young himself.

Take That Back for Good

Wow, the most successful boy band in the 90s after Beatles are Back For Good. Yup, all Take That fans take note. After having a successful reunion concert sans Robbie Williams, the men (cant call them boys anymore) have just signed a £3 million recording contract. If you liked Take That without Robbie Williams, then this will be good news:) Even "greater" news was that Robbie Williams had also made-up with the other four lesser members as well:P

Gmail Pictures

New feature in Gmail. Associating pictures to your contacts. Called Gmail Pictures, it's a bit like the Avatar in Yahoo Messenger. But of course, anything Google does will always be cooler:P If you don't like the picture that your friend is using, you can even suggest one:))

Song to Share

Sang this song a few years back at Multimedia University. It was for a chinese song composing concert. The song is called Bian Xin (Changed Heart). Now that I've experienced the receiving end of a failed relationship, I actually could identify with the song unlike the time when I sang it:P I still remember the special guest (some song composer) who commented when I sang this song, I wasnt serious enough and giving all the wrong emotions:))

Hope you like it. File's shared at Multiply.

The Da Vince Craze

If you have not heard of the Da Vinci Code, you really need to examine your head:P. If you have not read the book, you really should. If you're not a reading fan, then you should just wait for the Da Vinci Code movie then, which will be out worldwide May 17. It stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen.

Being a Christian, I welcome this phenomenon with arms wide open. Have I gone crazy? A controversial book that claims Jesus Christ had married Mary Magdalene and had a baby and I liked it? Well, it's just a fictionous book, so what's the big deal? Harry Potter says that there's a witch and wizard world parallel to our normal Muggles' world and there's no controversy there what. Oh wait, there is but that's another story all together. The biggest problem with Da Vinci Code is that the author, Dan Brown, had boldly claimed that other than the main characters in the book, all other elements in the book are true historical facts. And that, my friend, had opened up a huge can of worms.

But I would like to invite you to take a step back and witness the power of God at work because believe me you, this movie/book, just like The Passion of Christ, would allow all humans once again to go back to the original question. Who is God? And God, in His most awesome sense of humour, had chosen to use Hollywood to answer that question. Yes, if that's not amazing, I ask you what is?

This movie/book would force Christians to re-examine their relationship with God and force them to go find out more about the history of Jesus Christ and what he really did 2006 years ago. It would generate incredible amount of interest in Jesus Christ amongst non-Christians as they would be curious to know if these bunch of gentle wayward folks called Christians had put their money on the wrong God:P

What an opportunity, friends, to let people know that not only is the book/movie really just a work of fiction but to share what Christianity at its deepst core really is about. To share what God had done in our lives so thoroughly, the breakthroughs, the transformations. So, is this book/movie bad? Only if you choose to let it be so. Me, I'm gonna thoroughly enjoy seeing God's power at work once again this summer.

Home Video Gone Awry

You shouldnt stay in the UK for too long:)
Cast/Directors/Editors:
Shawn
Beng Chuan
Yeng Yee

Original video taken from National Geography.

New Top Gear is Amazingly Brilliant

You know. Fifth Gear has upped the ante by spending more money and doing more research. Well, Top Gear did even better by just being more creative and even more flamboyant than ever. They've got a show intro, a new studio, new car for "Star In a Reasonably Priced Car", new ideas and wait for it, a dog. Yup, the idea they were so proud of was actually getting a labrador-poodle hybrid and comtemplate calling it Prius. hahahaha. They ultimately called it the Top Gear Dog and the mutt, which always seems to be sleeping, will be placed strategically at various locations in the studio when they do their presentation. Ohya, their first project for the season was to built a MPV-cabriolet. British!!

2nd win in a row for Schumacher/Ferrari

Yes!! Ferrari is really back for sure. Through brilliant driving and nifty pit-stops, Michael Scumacher clawed back another 2 points from Alonso, who again did a solid job getting the best results he could with the equipment he had. Massa finished third. According to the commentators, the reason why he is much slower than Schumacher is because he had used most of his new tires doing setup work during free practices allowing Schumacher to save his own. Wow. How's that for being a wing-man. Most memorable moments? Schumacher coming out in front of Alonso and Jean Todt giving Malaysia's very own Bond girl, Datuk Michelle Yeoh a peck on the lips. Pphhlluucck!

MI-3: Cruise in Q-ontrol

Just saw MI3 at GSC's latest cineplex in 1Utama. Before about the movie, wanna mention that I bought the tickets through GSC's online ticket purchasing system. Really hassle-free. I went to www.gsc.com.my, logged in, select the movie details (cineplex(only for 1Utama for now), date, time), no of seats, seat locations (got map of cineplex to select), key in credit card details and got a confirmation number. I went to 1Utama, went to third floor, went to the ticket kiosk, slot in my credit card, keyed in my IC number as a verification and the machine printed out my tickets. The whole process did not involve queueing or talking to the sometimes moody ticketing people. This being done on a weekend for a movie that just been launched 3 days ago and at a packed cinema. Isn't online systems wonderful!

Now more about the movie, as my buddies and I concurred, this sequel was much better than the previous John-Woo effort. MI2 was too stylish and lacks real bite. This one was more balanced. It showed more team-work (which is what Mission Impossible really is about rather than Ethan Hunt:American James Bond), more emotions (this is more for the ladies as it seems that all new action movies must have a tearful moment for the indefeatable hero) and some amazing details (we can see how the face/voice masquerading is being done. Though fictional, it's still dam impressive)

Tom Cruise still got the mojo for sure. His on-screen presence is still amazing but ahem, for me, my favourite character has to be Maggie Q, who plays one of the IMF members. As usual, the Asian character gets 1000% on-screen charisma but less than 10 lines throughout the whole show. But trust me, when you see Maggie Q appeared on-camera in a stunning Lamborghini Gallardo and when she slides out of the car, all lines are not necessary. Must watch show!

Don worry, ladies. Hunt is bruised but still kicking

Dont know to focus on Maggie Q or Gallardo

"We Asians dont need lines"

OneWebDay

The web has revolutionized our lives so much that we really cannot imagine life without Internet and communication. So, some folks has got together and started this initiative called OneWebDay where just like Earth Day, we celebrate the breakthroughs that the web has brought to us. This year, OneWebDay is 22nd September 2006. Nice!

Why Ferrari never choose Italian drivers

It's been a well-documented fact that Ferrari, despite being a proud Italian team has rarely given Italian drivers a chance. Well, as can be seen from the latest qualifying in the European GP, the reason is quite clear. Giancarlo Fisichella, in a race-winning car, qualifies outside the top 10 for the 2nd race in a row. Well, instead of analyzing what went wrong with his hot lap, he chose to walk all the way to BMW's garage to remonstrate with Jacques Villeneuve because he felt that Villeneuve blocked him during his lap. Fair enough, Villeneuve did slowed Fisico by 0.7s. However, you rarely see that happening to Schumacher, Alonso and Raikonen, do you? By the way, tomorrow will set to be classic race again with Alonso on pole but Ferrari's Schumacher and Massa will be keeping a close tab on the fast-starting Renault with second and third places respectively

Inconsistent Fisichella

Accidental villain Villeneuve

Crash Test: Renault Espace (MPV) vs Land Rover Discovery (4x4)

If you want to transport your family safely across the city, which would you choose? A MPV loaded with new safety gadgets or a 4-wheel drive which looks like it could roll over any incoming vehicles? Fifth Gear (which is surprisingly entertaining and informative at the same time in its new season, despite still using self-gratifying ex-racing drivers as hosts) decided to test this theory. So the test was between the new Renault Espace (revealed by the Euro NCAP to be the safest car they've tested so far) and an old Land Rover Discovery (a 4x4 which still holds a special place in many people's heart. Incidentally, 4x4s are outnumbering other cars by 3 to 1 in the UK cause lots of school-runners there feel it's safer to travel in such vehicles). The two cars were filled up with 2 crash-test dummies each. These dummies each costs 100,000 pounds cause they are loaded with sensors that will measure the impact of a crash on the head, neck and other parts of the body. The cars were pulled by winches to meet each other at 40mph and the results? Well, if you think that perceived structural sturdiness beats engineering efforts, you better think again. The occupants of the Renault were calculated to be able to walk away from the crash, shaken and stirred but unhurt while the Discovery's occupants would have suffered major injuries if they were real people in it. So, next time you wanna get a car for your family, better do more research:)

Love him or hate him

but you cant help but notice him. I'm talking about Mr Cuckoo-Nest-Hair, Jeremy Clarkson, brilliant main host of the ever-entertaining Top Gear. Jeremy writes everyweek (almost everyweek) for the Times on cars and general matters (mostly his opinions on how things go if we all live in Jeremy-World). In his latest article, he thinks crying babies on aeroplane should be eaten by sharks!!! Hahaha. I hope for his own sake, he's joking:P

Brand New Top Gear Starting This Week!!

Ooohh yes!! Season 8 of BBC's top (not just BBC actually, it's a worldwide craze now) car variety show will be out this weekend (Sunday May 7 8.00pm GMT). Cant wait. According to Top Gear's official site, they're tweaking some stuff. And the fact that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are bragging so smugly about it, it's probably making Tiff Needel and his rather pathetic attempt at rivalry cringe so bad:P

I am Supreme Nerd!!

5% scored higher (more nerdy), and
95% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

All hail the monstrous nerd. You are by far the SUPREME NERD GOD!!!

Is Ferrari Back in Business?

Or is it just a flash in a pan? The European GP beckons in a few days time. Ferrari has always done well in Imola (interesting fact: Although Imola is the track for the San Marino GP, it's actually nowhere near the principality. But who cares??:P). So should be interesting to see if they can sustain the momentum. Or will the Michelin teams bounce back. We can only wait and see:) While waiting, you can consider learning Italy's national anthem:) I'm praciticing hard myself already:))

So You Would Come

Sang this song during easter party few weeks back after sharing this testimony



Lyrics:
=======================================================
So You Would Come
Before the world began, you were on his mind
And every tear you've cried is precious in his eyes
Because of His great love, He gave His only Son
And everything was done so you would come

Come to the Father though your gift is small
Broken hearts, broken lives He will take them all
The power of the Word, the power of His Love
And everything was done so you would come

Nothing you can do can make Him love you more
And nothing that you've done
Can make Him close the door
Because of His great love, He gave His only Son
And everything was done so you would come
===================================================

This is the most touching Christian song for me so far. The melody is amazing and the lyrics summarizes beautifully what love really means in all sense.

Rolly-Polly Bas Kilang

On the way back from lunch last saturday (29/4/2006), me and my housemate, Leng Chye saw this weird Bas Kilang (Factory Bus, bus that ferries factory workers to and fro home/workplace in Malaysia, distinct by their ugly blue colour. My buddy Shawn, actually once owned a Datsun that had the exact same colour and we used to fondly call it Bas Kilang too but that's another story all together). Anyway, we were on the LDP heading towards Cyberjaya nearing the tollhouse. What made this specific bus so weird was that when we first saw it, the back of it was leaning dangerously towards the left. So we thought suspension failure or tyre burst but then, before our very own eyes, the thing started slowly to shfit and lean towards the right as it went along. Then it shift left again... WOW!!! Like that also can!! We overtook the fella at the tollhouse. Then i told my housemate who was driving to stop after the toll and let the bus overtake us again. I would try to take videos of the rolling on my Nokia 6600. Below are the results. Unfortunately, it wasnt that clear (lousy camera phone + lousy cameraman combo). Enjoy the commentating by my housemate though. (if you don understand Hokkien, sorry la. You missed out on the best dialect in the world:P) I was too busy making sure my hand wasnt shaking:)) We were having such a great laugh that we actually missed the turning back home and had to U-turn but it was worth it!!

Video 1


Video 2


Video 3


Video 4


Video 5

New BMW 3-Series Coupe

Latest 3-Series Coupe from BMW. In the looks department, nothing special really. But interestingly, BMW will have its first ever twin-turboed petrol engine in a production car through this series. The 335i will have a 3.0 litre straight-six twin-turbo engine, which produces 306bhp. Price? Only 33.4k sterling pounds;)

Cool British Judge [update:code broken]

Judge Peter Smith gave Da Vinci Code's author, Dan Brown a taste of his own medicine. Apparently in his ruling, Judge Smith italicized some words and when Brown's lawyer joined them together, they form "smithcodeJaeiextostpsacgreamqwfkadpmqz". The words "Smith Code" were all from the first paragraph. How's that for a judge! Full news from Yahoo!. By the way, I've put in my own hidden (obvious) code above, in case you didnt notice:P

[update] the code has been broken. Apparent those jumbled-up words stand for "Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought.", a tribute to the British Admiral who modernized England's navy. More info at Yahoo!. I'm sure my own one was solved even quicker. Here's the ironic thing though, just like in real life, a lot of people would be able to decipher the code i put in but how many people really understand the meaning and implications of it:)

Pandora: Intelligent Online Radio Stations

Recommended by coolcat, Pandora is a cool spun-off from the Music Genome Project. The Music Genome Project is an effort to analyze songs right down to their rhythms, instruments, arrangements, lyrics etc to form a huge database of song analysis. Pandora, using the database, will ask you what artist/song you like and from there will start playing songs that it thinks you like. Cool!

Some F1 Clips

Gilles Villeneuve's mighty duel with René Arnoux in the last few laps of French GP 1979


Major crash in Belgian GP 1998


And Finally, you better see it for yourself:P


The evolution of Formula1 in 3 videos:P

The Alfa Romeo Radio Advert That Got Banned

Learning italian, Lessone 33:

Pervert: Alonso Alonso
Enemy: Raikonen Raikonen (2006) Alonso Alonso (2007)
Friend: Schumacher Schumacher (2006) Raikonen Raikonen (2007)
Car: Alfa Romeo, Alfa Romeo


Alfa Romeo, Driven by genuine italian passion. Auto Italia, members of the Sime Darby Group.

(you can only understand this if you listen to radio pretty often and you like F1)

Joga Bonito

Eric cantona is Da Man!!! Feed your World Cup passion:)

Football Revolution is here


Football: Play like a child


Fooball: Play with your heart


Fooball: A Noble Art


Football: 1-1-8

Ronaldinho Playing Ping Pong with the Goal Post

Simply Amazing!

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?