My dream phone

Just read about this hand phone with personal digital assistant (PDA) capabilities. The Motorola A760 is the world’s first handset combining a Linux Operating System and Java Technology. Apart from that, it also includes the following : digital camera, video player, MP3 player, speakerphone, mms, GPRS and Bluetooth wireless technology.


The phone has a vivid color TFT touch-screen with 65K colors and 240 x 320 pixels display. It has a memory of 32 MB and a 206Mhz processor. Read more about the phone here
Priced at approx. RM1,899 this phone is what I had been waiting for all the while. By the way, my birthday is coming up (hint, hint)

Franken food in our stores?

I am not sure how many of you have been following the Seventh Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 7) which was held from from 9 to 20 February 2004. KL was also the venue of the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP-MOP 1). The discussions were really interesting (Well I guess many may find it kind of boring) but mind you, all the issues discussed may affect our lives and that of our future generation. Forgive me for sounding so dramatic.
Initially I was one of those who greatly supported biotechnology and genetic engineering because it was my belief that it would be the magic wand to get rid the World of hunger and diseases. However, my beliefs have changed as I read more about the issue and now I think that manipulating and playing around with things we don't have enough knowledge about, may not be such a good idea. I know my friends working in Biotech firms including one in Monsanto, will not be happy with my comments. I am not sure whether its true but one friend mentioned that some of the products carried at our stores may contain genetically modified ingredients. According to this site, 60-70% of the food on grocery store shelves in the US, such as cereal, soup, tortilla chips, infant formula and soda contain genetically engineered ingredients. In fact, studies to see whether genetically engineered foods or Franken food (from Frankenstein) are harmful to humans and the environment are still in the test stage.
That’s why I really support one of the biggest developments of the recent meeting. This was the adoption of documentation requirements and other procedures for promoting the safety of international trade in living or genetically modified organisms (known as LMOs, or GMOs respectively), by 87 member states of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. By the way this protocol entered into force in September 2003.
At least, I will know what product contains LMOs or GMOs and choose those without. If others want to go ahead and consume those products, well that’s your choice.

Is it 1.6 or 1.4?

According to this report in Autoworld, the new Gen.2's displacement is 1414.66 cc instead of the 1597 cc specs given by Proton. If this is true, it is a big blow to the credibility of the national car. I won't be shocked if it turns out to be true. Just look at their web site and read the features listed under safety in the Gen.2 section.
By the way, according to latest news, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) is thinking of selling off its entire 15.88% stake in Proton to Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The value is around US$219mil. Khazanah currently holds 30% of Proton and under Malaysian securities law, it would have to buy the remaining Proton shares if it owns more than 33%.
With the development of its own "Campro" engine, Proton has finally ended its dependence on MMC. Looking at the data from Proton shows how much they are going to save. Last year ending March 31, 2003, Proton paid over RM1.2 billion to Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Corp and all of that for second hand old technology.

Latest About the Proton GEN.2

"Oh! No! Not again! " OK Lah! I know everyone's tired of all the hype surrounding the Gen.2 but here are some insider info, which you might find interesting.
Anyway, before I go on just wanted to share bits of a conversation I had with an acquaintance. While we were discussing the new Gen 2, he commented, "I don't care what new model they are going to come out with or what's going to happen to Proton in the future, I have never bought a Proton car nor am I going to buy one in the future."
I know that. However, not everybody was born with a silver spoon in his or her mouth so please forgive us, if we commoners discuss the developments of the local car industry.
Coming back to the news I had, the Proton web site is finally up and running. However, they only have the “News and events” section up and don’t expect to find any other company information. I just heard that Proton’s going to fit airbags and ABS in future models (I am not sure whether it’s for their export models). I think the info provided in the Proton Edar site is a bit misleading, as the present Gen 2 models on display don’t have either ABS or airbags fitted.
Proton may also come out with a 1.3 litre version of the Gen 2. I guess the maximum demand is in that segment.
Remember you read about this FIRST in my blog. Anyway, thanks for the info, Roslan.

Answers to questions posted by BabyPink

Some of the questions were quite straight forward but had to think a bit over questions 3 and 5. So here are my answers:
1. At night, before dozing off to sleep, what do you look at (just before you close your eyes)?
Ans: If I am alone, it’s usually the TV or a book but when I am with my wife, it’s her face.

2. If you were to kill someone, who would it be and how would you do it?
Ans: I have no wish to kill anybody. I am a peace loving guy. "Live and let live" is my motto.

3. If you didn’t exist in this world, what would the world be missing?
Ans: Rahil. (& maybe some more kids, still on the way)

4. If you could rearrange the appearance (arrangement?) of your face, how would you it?
Ans: I am very satisfied with my face and have no wish to rearrange anything. If I do change anything, it won't be me anymore. However, I wish I could improve my eye sight somehow and get rid of my glasses. Yes, I have tried contacts but couldn't be bothered with all the hassle of washing etc. etc.

5. If you were to choose one situation/experience of your life to live and re-live over and over again for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
Ans: I don't think I would want that as it won't be special anymore. The situations/experiences I treasure are special only because they happened once in my life.

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's day was a quiet affair for me and my wife. No bouquet of roses, or chocolates for my wife. (I am so sorry dear). In the morning my wife went off to attend a forum - about properly raising a child. I would have loved to attend it but unfortunately I had to attend an extra class at University Malaya. My wife commented that apart from one guy, all the participants were women. According to one of the speakers, this shows that women are more concerned about their children than the men. I don't quite agree as I am sure that fathers worry about their children as much if not more than the mothers. Maybe they are not that keen on going to seminars or talks. Furthermore it was on a friday when most people were working. Anyway we met up later and had a nice Italian style lunch at SS2, PJ. It has been our usual tradition to have a nice romantic dinner every Valentine's day but I had to leave KL in the evening and decided to make do with a lunch. No candlelight but OK lah. Both me and my wife had been suffering from a mild flu and was really worried that Rahil might catch it from us. Fortunately, she didn't. I am still on cough medicine but I am feeling much better now but as indicated my the imood icon - medicated and drowsy.

Superstitions

Hey guys, today is Friday the 13th. Some people prefer to remain indoors today. Actually it seems that that is even a term to describe the people afflicted with a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th – it’s called Paraskevidekatriaphobia. If you are a fan of horror movies, you will recall that there was a movie with the same title which made the fictional character Jason, a cult figure.
Superstitions exist in all societies and in all countries. In India a bus I was once traveling in suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. It turned out that a black cat had run across the road and the bus driver was waiting for another vehicle to pass the spot first and take the bad luck before he would continue further. I found it quite funny but obviously it’s not a laughing matter for many. Looking around, I found that many people have some superstition or the other. Many buildings in Malaysia and for that matter in western countries too, don't have a 13th floor. This website had a very detailed explanation about the origins of this superstition. In Malaysia, you will also notice the absence of the 4th floor and also avoid the number 4 in their car registration number. It’s due to fact that for Cantonese-speaking Chinese people, the numbers 4, 14 and 24 sound like the words for “death”, “must die” and “easy to die”, respectively. Just noticed a car with the registration number 4444 while my wife and I were going for lunch today and both of us commented – “driver must be Melayu” and yes he was. You might find the results of ” this study quite interesting. Many Christians also avoid the number 666, the so-called “number of the beast”. You might have noticed that people pay loads of money to buy so–called lucky vehicle registration numbers, especially those with the number 8. According to a source, the mathematical symbol for infinity is like the number 8 sideways and is considered as the symbol for eternal life by the Chinese here.
Do you have any superstition? Do you think that there is any truth in all these superstitions? Would love to hear your views.