UNCONVENTIONAL WORLD RECORDS

Ice discovered on Mars!

35km wide
2km deep

High resolution JPG here (13MB).

More details at European Space Agency website.

“2003 UB313″ is the name. Probably they’ll think of a nicer name soon.

Looks like the school text books will have to be revised again…

The largest object found in our Solar System since the discovery of Neptune in 1846.
The previous last planet discovered is Pluto in 1930.

- picked up using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory and the 8-metre Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea.
- first seen on 21 October 2003, but only recently confirmed as a planet.
- aout 3,000km across
- a world of rock and ice (what else?)
- somewhat larger than Pluto
- more than twice as far away as Pluto
- a puzzling orbit, at an angle to the orbits of the other planets.
- currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto’s average distance from the Sun.

Surely to go down in history are its discoverers: Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.

has created a worldwide uproar, which has now reached Australia, unprecedented for a “mere” computer game

Watch the scene at gorillamask.net.

Take Two, producer of the game initially denied it was part of the game, but later admitted it.

GTA: San Andreas was one of the most popular games of 2004.

fleshbot.com says that they dont condone this “because it sends the message that it�s possible for men to have intercourse without unzipping their flys or taking a single article of clothing off �”

Japanese scientists have unveiled the most human-looking robot yet - the world’s most beautiful android is seen posing for a pic next to her creator, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University.

If a robot looks this good, might you take the plunge?

Unfortunately, at this moment, “Repliee Q1″ can only sit and do a few twitches.

spec:
- flexible silicone for skin rather than hard plastic,
- sensors and motors allow her to turn and react in a human-like manner.
- can flutter her eyelids and move her hands like a human.
- even appears to breathe!

The law would need to be changed again in the not too distant future.

One word: kotoh!

Russia�s Biggest Spammer Brutally Murdered in Apartment

Vardan Kushnir, 35, notorious for sending spam to each and every citizen of Russia who appeared to have an e-mail, was found dead in his Moscow apartment on Sunday, Interfax reported Monday. He died after suffering repeated blows to the head.

He headed the English learning centers the Center for American English, the New York English Centre and the Centre for Spoken English, all known to have aggressive Internet advertising policies in which millions of e-mails were sent every day.

In the past angry Internet users have targeted the American English centre by publishing the Center�s telephone numbers anywhere on the Web to provoke telephone calls. The Center�s telephone was advertised as a contact number for cheap sex services, or bargain real estate sales.

Another attack involved hundreds of people making phone calls to the American English Center and sending it numerous e-mails back, but Vardan Kushnir remained sure of his right to spam, saying it was what e-mails were for.

Apparently the motive was murder, nothing to do with his internet activities. But he was the most hated person among Russia’s 17.6 million internet users.

Even the Russian media apparently hailed his murder.

….want AFUNDI, or use your AFUNDI allocation to instead help these poor students who’re going for SPM soon?

Pelajar miskin Asrama Desa St Peter, Telipok rayu bantuan

TELIPOK : Sekolah Menengah (SM) St Peter yang dilanda banjir kilat merayu pertubuhan bukan kerajaan(NGO) dan para dermawan supaya membantu pelajar miskin yang tinggal di Asrama Desa, Jalan Timbok, setelah buku dan pakaian mereka msnah dalam bencana pada 17 Julai itu.

Daily Express 27th July 2005

Nine Roman Catholic women have been unofficially ordained as priests and deacons in North America, risking excommunication by the Vatican. Ceremony took place aboard a tour boat near Canada’s capital, Ottawa.

The women - seven Americans, a Canadian and a German - were ordained by three female bishops, who were also unofficially anointed in 2003. Seven women who were ordained in 2002 despite the Vatican’s ban on female priests were later excommunicated.

Interesting to note how they justified their actions:
“I believe it’s valid even if it’s against the law of the Church, because it is an unjust law,” Germany’s Regina Nicolosi, who was ordained a deacon.

Married with children and grandchildren, she said she did “not fear an excommunication because I don’t feel excommunicated”.

“Our ship will sail through some stormy weather but it will not go down”
Patricia Fresen, unrecognised female bishop

The location for Monday’s ceremony was chosen because it was in the international waters between Canada and the US where no diocese had jurisdiction.

Answer: Since 1905, the Vatican has approved only 12 miraculous events and rejected 284. The Vatican very rarely approves miracles, despite an increase in the number reported.

example: In 1995, a Madonna statue in the town of Civitavecchia, north of Rome, was reported to be crying tears of blood, prompting a flood of interest. But, after a lengthy investigation, the Vatican failed to pronounce it definitely authentic.

26th July 2005:
‘Moving Madonna’ draws faithful: A statue of the Madonna reported to cry tears of blood in Civitavecchia, Italy. Catholic faithful from across Italy have been travelling to a small town near Naples to see a Madonna statue believers say has taken human form. Witnesses say the plaster statue in the church of St Peter’s in Acerra turns flesh-coloured and moves.

They describe the Madonna becoming a “pinky colour” and say they captured the event on a mobile phone camera.

A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say.

The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura.
Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report.

In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints.

Researchers believe the object’s distinctive form and etched rings around one end mean there can be little doubt as to its symbolic nature.

A photographer, John Rutter, 42, accused of forging the signature of actress Cameron Diaz to try to sell topless photos of her has been convicted in the US.

He could be jailed for up to six years after being found guilty in a Los Angeles court of forgery, attempted grand theft and perjury.

In 2003, he tried to sell the photos back to her for $3.5m (�2m).

Naturally, the question we’d like to ask would be, can I have a look at those damned pics for myself to see if it’s worth that much?

I think the pictures can be seen here. If it’s wrong or fake, pls inform. =)

The link is originally from this blog.

The way I see it, if a woman is willing to take pictures like this or this, it takes a very small step to progress to the next level…..

Looks like I’m into spooky sounds today…

Scientists at NASA have now heard proof (called ‘Saturn kilometric radiation’) that Saturn has a phenomenon similar to the earths’ Northern Lights (aurora borealis). Talking about the eerie sounding noise, Dr. Bill Kurth with the University of Iowa, says “We believe that the changing frequencies are related to tiny radio sources moving up and down along Saturn’s magnetic field lines.”

Listen to the sound here.

It couldn’t sound any spookier if they added a Theremin.

/.

Official website at mobibluamerica.com.

- cubic package
- 24 x 24 x 24 millimeters (just under one square inch)
- 18 grams
- FM radio
- supports MP3 and WMA files.
- USB connection cable, headphone necklace, program CD, user guide, and protective case.
- storage options: 512MB and 1GB

According to a review,

Pros
- It�s Tiny
- Bright OLED Display
- Recognized as Universal Storage Device
- Easy to use

Cons
- It�s Tiny
- Slow File Transfer
- Poor Track Transition
- No DRM Support

I think this title undisputably goes to the theremin.

The what?

It works by applying the principles of “beat frequency” or “heterodyning oscillators”, whatever that means.

Someone playing it:

Listen to this, if that does not sound spooky, I dont know what else does.

The sounds it makes would make perfect soundtrack for old pontianak movies.

Of course one can play more cheerful tunes with it like so:

Still, it does not take away the sheer creepiness of the sound it makes.

Hafsham (di kiri dalam gambar di bawah) letak jawatan PFM
[pic courtesty of windowstomalaysia.com.my]

KUALA LUMPUR: Presiden Persatuan Pengeluar Filem Malaysia (PFM), Othman Hafsham meletak jawatannya semalam, berikutan kontroversi terhadap keputusan Festival Filem Malaysia Ke-18 (FFM18).

Hafsham yang menjadi ketua panel juri festival itu mengaku bertanggungjawab terhadap beberapa isu dan segala kelemahan yang timbul selepas FFM18 berakhir, pada 17 Julai lalu. “Saya mengambil tanggung- jawab atas segala kelemahan yang timbul. Keputusan ini diambil untuk memelihara nama baik dan demi keutuhan PFM dan saya mengumumkan peletakan jawatan sebagai Presiden PFM berkuat kuasa 25 Julai 2005,” katanya pada sidang media tergempar di Wisma PFM, Hulu Klang, semalam.

Berita Harian, 26 Julai 2005

Dua Porsche Cayenne hilang dikesan di Jakarta

KUALA LUMPUR: Dua kenderaan utiliti sukan (SUV) mewah, Porsche Cayenne yang dilaporkan hilang di Lembah Klang Februari lalu, dikesan berada di sebuah ruang pameran kereta di Jakarta.Bagaimanapun, sebaik saja pihak yang diberi tugas oleh pemilik kenderaan itu membuat tuntutan terhadapnya, dua kereta berkenaan yang bernilai kira-kira RM1.5 juta, lesap sekali lagi. Kes ini mengesahkan mengenai kewujudan satu sindiket mencuri kereta mewah yang giat beroperasi di ibu negara sebelum diseludup untuk dijual ke negara ketiga, dengan kontena menerusi Singapura.

More pics of the SUV at edmunds.com.

Berita Harian, 26 July 2005

SMS joke making the rounds - don’t arrest Ayah Pin (Sky Kingdom leader), or all ATM’s in the country will cease to work, because you’re arresting the father of all Personal Identification Numbers (PIN)….

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Berita Harian, 25 July 2005

Air tulang anjing, kapsul disumbat najis

BESUT: Air tulang anjing dan kapsul yang disumbat dengan najis ketua ajaran sesat Ayah Pin, disyaki punca utama menyebabkan pengikutnya patuh dan taat dengan ajaran sesat itu.

Air tulang anjing dan pil najis Ayah Pin atau nama sebenarnya Ariffin Mohamad, 65, diberikan kepada individu yang mengunjungi markas Ayah Pin dengan alasan untuk menenangkan jiwa mereka.

Seorang guru yang enggan namanya dikenali berkata, rakannya yang juga bekas pengikut kanan Ayah Pin yang mendakwa pernah menjadi tukang masak untuk menyediakan jamuan himpunan kumpulan sesat itu memberitahunya individu yang kini masih menjadi pengikut kumpulan itu, termasuk golongan mewah akur dengan setiap arahan dikeluarkan Ayah Pin.
Katanya, bekas tukang masak itu mendakwa individu yang mengunjungi markas Ayah Pin diwajibkan minum air sumpah dan menelan pil sebagai syarat utama menjadi pengikut ajaran ‘kerajaan langit’ itu.

“Bekas pengikut Ayah Pin itu menceritakan kepada saya, dia ditugaskan menyediakan jamuan untuk pengikut ketua ajaran sesat yang datang untuk mendengar khutbah mingguan setiap malam Ahad beberapa bulan selepas Ayah Pin menerima wasiat sebagai pemegang kunci pintu syurga daripada bapa mentuanya dikenali dengan gelaran Hasan Anak Rimau, sekitar 1979.

“Tiada ayat Quran dibacakan kepada individu mengunjungi markas kumpulan itu, sebaliknya diminta minum air sumpah dan menelan pil itu,” katanya ketika ditemui.

Daily Express, 25 July 2005

Ex- Forestry boss: I was punished

KOTA KINABALU: Former forestry Director Hj.Amin Said the Raspand fiasco in which the State Government now has to pay RM 8.2 million with eight per cent yearly intrest untill full settlement-plus costs and expenses should serve as a lesson. He said he felt vindicated by Friday’s High Court ruling in favour of Syarikat Raspand because he disagreed with the onstructions of then Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee to seize Raspand’s Log’s in Tawau in January 1997.

When tech company Vista discovered the title for the new Windows Operating System version, company founder John Wall was not amused. John Wall may take this to court because he knows of how protective Microsoft is over their trademarks. From the article: ‘A Microsoft spokesman said the company chose Vista from a list developed by the Windows team, based on attributes of the new software. Among its primary selling points are new tools for searching and viewing the contents of a PC; communications features; and a lighter desktop appearance with transparent objects.’”

as someone commented: Sue for the name, or be sued…

someone else said: Microsoft deserves to be sued for picking such an un-attractive name for an OS. How many people are going to actually know what “Vista” means, anyway? I’d put 20 on people thinking that the newest incarnation of Windows is some spanish distribution.

news source at /.

Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is reporting that some of their researchers have analyzed recordings of the underwater sound produced by last year’s magnitude 9.3 Sumatra earthquake. By studying the ocean’s sound waves rather than the Earth’s seismic waves, the researchers measured the earthquake’s speed and duration with unprecedented accuracy.

You can download it here (mp3 format, 3.3MB).

From /.

T waves for the earthquake, image courtesy of columbia.edu.

Police in India’s Uttar Pradesh state have arrested a publisher for a sketch of the Prophet Mohammad in a book.

They said the drawing was likely to cause outrage among the Muslim community as images of the Prophet are considered blasphemy in Islam.

The publisher, Amit Agrawal, was arrested in the city of Merrut, 80km (50 miles) east of Delhi.

In 2001, Time magazine apologised to Muslims after an image of the Prophet Mohammad sparked riots in Kashmir. Needless to say, it was not possible to get hold of the magazines to see for myself.

So, naturally, we turn to the wild wild west of the 21st century for information. I would not post the photos here for fear of a backlash, but it is easy enough to find the images via the usual means.

Some examples: nndb.com, superluminal.com, and uib.no.

These are but a few of the thousands available. Having said that, I would not be able to authenticate these.

Microsoft is suing Google for wooing away a top executive to work in a China research lab. Microsoft is accusing Kai-Fu Lee of breaking his contract by taking a job WITHIN A YEAR of leaving Microsoft.

That means you have to sell goreng pisang for a year to make ends meet before you can start work in another “Microsoft direct competitor” company…

From /.

This idea has now become reality.

Traffic offence is very very rife in Sabah especially those minibuses

Hopefully it’s not yet another “hangat hangat t.a.” thing.

The next time you see a traffic offence being committed, snap it on your cellphone or digital camera and send it to the Hall of Shame section of a newly launched road safety website: http://www.panducermat.org.my (launched 18th July). This invitation comes from the Transport Ministry. It wants the public to help enforcement officers keep an eye on traffic offenders so that action could be taken against them.

Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy said traffic is now under public surveillance.

Besides posting photos to the website, we should also provide the time, date and location where the traffic offences took place.

According to the Minister, the photos and details will then be re-directed to the Road Transport Department or traffic police to act against the traffic offenders.

For balance, there is also the Hall of Merit for the public to post pictures of exemplary road users to help improve road safety awareness.

update 29th July:
Eggs have moved to a new home. See you there!

update 26th july:
6te.net/orgfree.com webhosting provider shot after just a few days. all data gone. i’ve done backup, but can’t guarantee they’ll do it again. no worries, i’ve signed up with a reputable webhosting company now. will set it up tomorrow or day after.

Update 22 july:
Radio blog now available! You can now listen to all their songs in their entirety.

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Introducing the most progressive band from Tuaran district: Eggs. They are different from your usual Sabahan band. Why? For starters, they sing in English. Secondly, their sound and ideas are progressive. They can switch from jazz to heavy metal in a flash. The samplers here lean heavily onto post 1967 Beatles.

Samplers here in mp3 format. Note: when you are presented with the download screen, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on the FREE button. Then you’ll be presented with another screen, scroll again to the bottom, then you have to wait for a few seconds before the link is shown. Thanks for your patience, and sorry for the complicated process. We’re working on a better way, perhaps our own domain.
Growing in the light (38 secs, 724K)
Alone with you (29 secs, 566K)

Samplers in OGG format (also playable in winamp):
Growing in the light (vocal remix) (30 secs, 449KB)
If you let me (25 secs, 404KB)
Rindu (19 seconds, 371KB). Featuring Boy Paling on vocals. This is the only Malay-language song here.

Full versions of their songs in OGG format at ind-music.com. Look out for songs 189 to 193 (total of 5 songs).

All tracks are recorded at the home studio, where the surroundings are so quiet you dont need a special room.

I have the live version of growing in the light on minidv recorded 23 may 05, but havent had the energy to do the conversion.

hope to come up with the proper promo website as soon as I manage to squeeze more out of our 24 hour-day allocation.

Note: this partially explains my “felix, aim higher!” article in FAF website.

Project Mentor provides “a structured environment in which newbies can steadily mature into respectable members of the hacking community.”

But, it’s NOT a a hacking school, because:
- there is no such thing. A true hacker knows he must be capable of learning independently in order to succeed in a technical field.
- it’s not a formal, graded environment. There is structure in that courses are arranged in a hierarchy of levels based on difficulty and depth, and the student must complete a number of objectives before completing the course, but this is naturally required to keep order of a student’s progression.

To further deter the assertion that Mentor is a school of any kind, it should be noted that content provided does not consist of step-by-step guides and howtos, but rather the information is intended to provide a true understanding of the subject matter.

Apparently, the main brain behind this is l0gic.

Ten-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa, a promising young software programmer from Faisalabad, Pakistan, is believed to be the youngest Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) in the world. She received the certification when she was 9.

To get MCAD you need to pass 3 exams, 2 exams are core subjects: Web Application Development or Windows Application Development in the language of your choice. Then pass one XML Web Services and Server Components exam. One exam is elective: “provides proof of expertise with a specific Microsoft server product.”

During a recent meeting with Bill Gates, she presented him with a poem she wrote that celebrated his life story.

Mr OS

Mr O.S.

One is a stock of laughter, the other is a laughing stock.

Remember what Dr Bennet said? His is cue for us to specalise in OS/2. People are still using it, hence support costs will go up, and you know what next.

—————————–

Big Blue has hammered the final nails into OS/2’s coffin.

All sales of OS/2 will end on the 23rd of December this year.

Support for the pre-emptive multitasking operating system will end on the 31st December 2006.

IBM has posted a migration page to help OS/2 users easily switch to Linux.

Actually, calculating the total number of users online in one day. The conclusion that was reached was that there are around 519 million users per day online. Also, “From what we calculated, it would appear that roughly 41 percent of internet users did not log in that day.”

Famed movie critic Roger Ebert wrote that the passion of the christ is the most violent film he has ever seen. Apparently he hasnt seen this one, definitely one of the most violent film ever produced and banned in many countries…

Produced in 1980, about the same year as Hell of the Living Dead, the first zombie film I saw and scared me s**tless, but I only saw “Cannibal” for the first time 17 years after it was made.

One wonders whether the actors and actresses really died because the injuries looked so eerily real. Well, the answer is that the only real things in there are the animal deaths and possibly the in-movie-documentary footage.

From that, one can conclude that Worod Suma, the director of Jaka Sembung & Si Buta, an Indonesian film made 2 years later, and by Malaysian standards extremely violent, but nowhere near as violent as this one, could learn a thing or two from Cannibal director Roberto Deodato.

See if you can spot my comments there, written some years ago.

It’s hard to comprehend that it was all fake blood and makeup. Who needs ILM if 24 years ago they already can make movies this realistic?!

Some trivia, courtesy of imdb.com:

* The special effects in the film were so realistic that director Ruggero Deodato reportedly had to go to court and prove that it was just make-up and fake blood and guts.

* The animal slaughterings in the movie were real, which resulted in the movie’s being banned in its native Italy.

* The film is one of the top ten highest grossing films of all time in Japan.

* The film caused some scandal in Italy at the time, and had trouble with the censorship board. There was a rumor that the performers had really been slain, so director R’uggero Deodato’ had to take the actors with him to the set of an Italian TV show in order to prove that they hadn’t been eaten alive.

* The in-film-documentary “The Last Road To Hell”, which features several executions, consists of authentic footage. Supposedly from Uganda. “The Last Road To Hell”-footage can only be seen completely uncut in the EC-UltraBit DVD (which includes executions of children).

* Deodato was inspired to make the movie after seeing his son watching the violent news on TV, and thinking about how the journalists focus on the violence.

A man came into a shop with a ‘Salesman Wanted’ sign in a window. He went up to the owner and said, “I-I-I w-w-waannn-t the j-joooob-b.”

“I don’t know if this job would suit you because of your speaking impediment,” said the owner.

“I h-h-havvve a w-wi-wiiiife and s-s-s-six k-kkkids, iiii-I re-really neeeed thi- thi-this j-j-job!” said the man.

“O.K. Here are three Bibles. Go out and sell them,” said the owner. So the man went out and came back an hour later. “H-here-sss your m-m-money.” said the man. The owner was impressed, so he gave the man a dozen more Bibles and sent him out. The man came back in two hours and said, “her-ers y-yooour m-m-money.”

The owner said, “This is fantastic. You sold more Bibles in three hours than anyone has sold in a week. Tell me, what do you say to the people when they come to the door?” “W-welllll,” said the man, “I r-r-ring the d-door bell, a-a-and s-s-say ‘H-Hel-Hello, M-m-maaaaddam, d-d-do you w-w-want t-t t-to buy thi-thi-this B-B-Bible, oooor d-d-do y-you w-w-want m’me t-toooo read it t-t-t-t-to you?”

Convert your audio files fast to WMA, MP3, MP2, WAV, and OGG formats. Cheetah Audio Converter also preserves tag information during conversion. Just drag files into the program window and click Convert. Cheetah Audio Converter also can convert your audio files to different bit rates ranging from 11,025Hz to 48,000Hz and will rip audio CDs and burn them from WMA, MP3, MP2, WAV, AVI, and OGG files. This program contains no spyware or adware.

2 Feb 2002: Kota Kinabalu achieves city status

6 June 1976: CM Tuan Fuad and a few others including the Golden Son of Penampang perish in plane crash in Sembulan

7 July 2005: worst ever terrorist attack in Great Britain - the London al-Qaeda bombings. Never before has suicide bombing been carried out in Western Europe.

8 August 1988: everybody turn supertitious and gambler, all 4D outlets run out of 8888 number.

9 September 2002: unprecented in the history of Malaysia, someone lost more than RM11 million at a gambling table in this ONE DAY.

According to AutoZine Awards 2005 (link is now dead), but available at discussion at motortrader.com.my:

The Gen.2 was designed and engineered mostly by Lotus, but that doesn’t guarantee success. Build quality is the first issue Lotus cannot help. The Malaysian way of quality control is the biggest problem, not only at Proton’s assembly plant but also the parts suppliers. Whenever the Gen.2 rides on bumps, its loosely fitted parts squeak while a lot of suspension noise and harshness enter the cabin. The nasty plastics, filmsy cupholders, low grade door trim and flawed driving position worsen quality feel further. The Campro engine is weak on torque and noisy at high rev. The cheap tires lack grip. The rear seats are short of headroom… Gen.2 is easily the worst car of the year.

Considering the author Mark Wan is non afilliated with any carmaker nor with any sponsors (no ads whatsoever) that could very well be true.

Some other reviews [1], [2] are not so scathing in their remarks, but the same “not up to scratch” comments keep cropping up.

but the best thing would be to test drive the car yourself for a few days……………

Don’t call this a blog, otherwise you’ll get a mouthful.

Definitely angst-filled, and begs to differ from the general consensus on many things, but irreverently funny as well.

And on at least one point, i.e. how to piss of credit card companies and get away with it, very practical!

Even has at least one fansite. That reminds me, yes I’ve read about Maddox years ago but never bothered to check it out.

Enjoy, and thank me George Ouzounian for promoting your site. Not that you need it though…

Pic courtesy of mahdzan.com

Got ramly burger in KK? franchises?

it seems they even smuggle it to a neighbouring country!

Rumoured to be even more delicious than its more famous, imported counterparts (read: burger king et al). In fact, somebody said that it’s equally good as the best burger in the US, In-N-Out burgers. Haven’t tried that one yet…

From humble beginnings in 1979 (In-N-Out has a 31 year head start), Burger Ramly started out as a small family business operated from a mobile kiosk on Lorong Haji Hussin in Kuala Lumpur.

The Ramly burger review here.

The special family recipe was cooked up by Mr Ramly Moknin, then 27. It soon became a hit among Malaysians.

Mr Ramly, now 52, set up his first factory, Ramly Food Processing, at Bandar Tun Razak in 1984. A second one, at the Batu Caves, was set up in 2000.

Ramly�s spokesman told The Sunday Times that the company�s processed products, including burger patties, nuggets and frankfurters, raked in RM60 million (S$28 million) last year. Patty sales make up 60 per cent of the company�s profits.

A couple of kids pull a car into two pieces and then cruise around their yard with half a car.

bigger version here.

originally from jwz.livejournal.com

…like Prez Arroyo just did in the Philippines?

Why? In her own words: “to give the executive a free hand to reorganize itself.”

She further explained: “The political system that I am part of has degenerated to the point that it needs fundamental change.”

Needless to say, the opposition begged to differ.

She must be cursing the tape now, which has caused a few of her ministers to resign and which made her the most popular ringtone in the country, especially the “Hello Graci, make sure I win by a million” and Gloria Vader: “I’m sorry, I promise to uphold the constitution to the best of my abilities. God bless the Philippines bla bla bla variations.

The Tulip E-Go Diamond is “inlaid with solid palladium white gold plates in which thousands of brilliant cut diamonds have been set.” Total weight 80 carat, or something like that.

“For the Tulip E-Go diamond project, Marcel van Galen Design worked closely together with Design Department product engineering and Laurent de Beer Master Jewelry Designer.”

Consumer price: 283,000 euros.

Urgh…that’s something like…RM1 million, possibly more, isnt it?

MOHAMMAD SIDIQUE KHAN, 30, FROM DEWSBURY, Primary School Teacher, Edgware Street station suicide bomber

HASIB MIR HUSSAIN, 18, FROM LEEDS, school dropout, bus no.30 suicide bomber, witness reported that on the bus, he furiously fiddled with bag at his feet.

SHEHZAD TANWEER, 22, FROM LEEDS, unemployed sports science graduate, Circle Line train between Aldgate and Liverpool Street stations suicide bomber.

LINDSEY GERMAINE, FROM AYLESBURY, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, Jamaican born. No pic available yet.

map of blasts

pic taken with cameraphone seconds after the blast on the double decker (the 4th and last explosion - 9.47am local time)

pic of double decker from above

update 16 july:
mastermind caught. Magdy el-Nashar studied PhD at Leeds Uni, caught in Cairo. Also attended North Carolina State University in 2000.

update 14 july:
52 confirmed killed.
4 explosions caused by 4 suicide bombers, identities already known.
all british citizens: 3 pakistani and 1 jamaican. all seemed to be very normal people.

update 8 july 2005

only 4 blasts, not 7
number of killed revised to at least 50, but authorities said unlikely to reach 100
number hurt topped 700
unknown number of bodies remain underground
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timed to rush hour, several minutes before 9am, to inflict maximum carnage

bombs detonated with mobile phones?

apparently 40+ dead with hundreds injured

previously unheard of al-qaeda affiliated group posted statement on website (http://al-qal3ah.com or https://www.qal3ah.org) to claim responsibility, which amongst others said chilling words like: “The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London,” “We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.”

Then a warning: “We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the Crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.”

There are already arseholes planning revenge acts like burning the Finsbury Mosques or urging people to hang Muslims. Those were tempered by many replies by level-headed Londoners, other Brits and some Americans in condemning these right wing extremists who are hell bent on spreading hate and fear across London.

All pics courtesy of the BBC.

First problems with the office servers, then yesterday my PDA crashed, and lost 1 year+ worth of data. The worst thing is, I hadn’t done any back up since time immemorial (okay, it was more like 6 months).

Now….must remember to do backup regularly…repeat 10 times….drum inside head…

without permission of course…

update 14 july:
DAP said Osu gambled “in total RM158.7 million, lost RM31.6 million and ran up RM7.1 million debts in a London casino a year after political retirement, apart from bigger gambling debts in other casinos. It has now been revealed that Osu was not only gambling hundreds of millions of ringgit in several London casinos, but also in Australia.”

CM Musa Aman said the matter has been closed, but LKS said it’s totally the opposite, that it needs to be discussed in next week’s UMNO assembly.

update 12 july:
it was not RM7 million, it was RM63 million lost, including RM32 million on 9th September 2002. Apparently he was at the Ritz gambling all of Feb 2002, 26th April 2002, 31 aug 2002,1-16 sept 2002. he was CM up to 2001. chong kah kiat was the next cm under the then rotation system.

update 8 july:

Interesting past comments attributed to Osu:
Maal Hijrah celebrations 2001: Outgoing Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Osu Sukam urged the people to avoid things that were negative and that which could negate development.

Daily Express, 8 July: Call for police, ACA to probe where he got the millions for gambling: OSU’s losses likely RM28mil. The RM7.1 million that two leading casinos in the United Kingdom are trying to recover from former Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Osu Sukam is understood to be only the balance of RM28mil that he owed these establishments. It is also understood that the gambling facilities were offered to Osu after being introduced by certain premium clients and paid for in cheques which may have bounced,It is understood that he had also been a good paymaster, having settled up to 562,000 pounds (RM3.9m) in 2002 alone.

An opposition politician said that Osu’s salary while being CM was only RM24,000/mth, so where did he get so much money to gamble? That’s right, if your’re Phil Purcell that’s different lah….

Utusan Malaysia: Osu gagal sebagai pemimpin - Abdullah.
KUALA LUMPUR 7 Julai - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi menyifatkan bekas Ketua Menteri Sabah, Datuk Seri Osu Sukam gagal sebagai pemimpin yang baik kepada rakyat ekoran kegiatannya dalam perjudian sehingga berhutang sebanyak RM7.1 juta. Perdana Menteri yang melahirkan rasa sedih dengan keadaan itu menegaskan, Osu sepatutnya menunjukkan nilai-nilai yang baik serta boleh dicontohi iaitu kepimpinan melalui teladan.

“Perkara ini telah mencemar kepimpinan beliau kerana pemimpin tak sepatutnya terlibat dengan kegiatan yang haram di segi agama dan tak bermoral dipandang masyarakat,” katanya.

Setiausaha Badan Perhubungan UMNO Sabah, Datuk Yahya Hussin berkata isu yang mengaitkan Ketua UMNO Bahagian Papar juga bekas Ketua Menteri, Datuk Seri Osu Sukam dengan hutang judi berjumlah RM7.14 juta di dua kasino di England tidak menjejas imej parti. Ini kerana ia adalah perilaku individu, dan tidak semestinya menggambarkan amalan keseluruhan anggota parti,” kata Yahya.

————————————————————————–
RM7 million gone down the drain.

Justice Ian Chin’s judgement here.

That’s right, he was one of those god of gamblers. No wonder he was not chosen to defend his kawang dun seat and papar parliamentary seat during last year’s general election.

Now, have to find old news articles while he was at the top, being CM and such like, on what he said on the virtues of…..you know what…that would be juicy reading.

No, this is not character assassination, okay? [said like how Felix would say it]

Update 7/7/05: An about turn in 24 hours. Heard about it on the radio this morning. Seems like Gerrard wants to stay at Liverpool at the end of it. There must have been a hell of a persuasion session done.

———————————-
My God, even Bill Gates only earns RM285,000 per month [source forgotten].

Beckham still earns more, about RM5 million a month, but that’s including endorsements etc etc [source forgotten already, will look it up if got time].

To the guy who earns USD22,000 per month I say peanuts!!!

Wouldn’t you love to be in Steven Gerrard’s position right now?
Boyhood club Liverpool spurned, Chelsea and Real Madrid can now have slugfest. I read earlier that Chelsea offered 90,000 pounds a week, while Real Madrid offered 130,000 pounds a week. Would you be surprised if the Champions League winning captain ends up earning more money than Ronaldo or Beckham?

no need battery, uses so-called electromagnetic induction technology

A 20-yr old pretty, sexy and sensual girl went to see a psychiatrist.

“Doctor, I’m so angry at my boyfriend that I must call him Bastard. I feel that he’s gone too far, and he deserves it.”

“Hmm? Such a word is strong and rude. But may be you have your own reasons. Tell me about it so that I can help you.”

“Yes, thank you, Doctor. There was one night…we parked our car besides the beach and we were alone… and… he held my hand…”

“Did he hold your hand like this?”

“Yes, Doctor. Exactly like how you’re holding it now”

“If it’s only this, he doesn’t deserve to be called Bastard. It means he doesn’t want to be separated from you.”

“Then, he leaned his body towards me… and hugged me…”

“Like this?”

“Yes, Doctor. Exactly like how you’re doing.”

“It’s not a Bastard. It means he wanna stay forever by your side”

“Then he kissed me…”

“Like this?”

“Yes, Doctor. Exactly like how you’re kissing me.”

“If its only a kiss like this, seriously you can’t call him Bastard. It means he adores you.”

“Then he put his hands inside my clothes and touched my boobs, Doc…”

“Like this?”

“Yes, Doctor… exactly like that”

“It’s not behavior of a bastard. It means he wants to protect you.”

“Then he took off all my clothes… slowly… ”

“Did you resist?”

“No. I let him do it, coz I love him…”

“Did he take off your clothes like this?”

“Yes, Doctor. Until I’m completely naked like now……”

“He still doesn’t deserve to be called “Bastard, because it means he wanna
learn about your body completely.”

“Then he kissed me and put his…. inside me and had sex with me…”
……………………

“Did he do it just like what we do?”

“Yes, Doctor. Exactly the same”

“You still can’t call him Bastard. It means he needs you.”

“But then he told me that he has AIDS”

All the staff and patients outside heard the doctor screaming:

“BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRD!”

From the mind of Joseph Duncan III, 42

What’s this all about? Read this.

In Bangkok, not too far from home…

And I mean not just the “royalty free” books.

Get them while it lasts…

according to the website:

The human hand as part of the receiver

The FingerWhisper currently being developed at the NTT DoCoMo Yokosuka R&D center, in its quest for future communications possibilities, is a new kind of wearable telephone handset that utilizes the human hand as part of the receiver.

Worn on the wrist, this watch-like terminal converts voice to vibration through an actuator and channels this vibration through the bones to the tip of the index finger. By inserting this finger into the ear canal, the vibration can be heard as voice. We call this process the bone conduction receiving mechanism.

Since the microphone is located on the inner side of the wrist, the posture of the user’s hand, when using the terminal, is the same as when using a cellular phone.