Burnt fingers

I was deep frying some samosas this morning. After frying it, I wanted to use the pan for frying some rice and transferred most of the oil to a small cup which we normally use for this purpose My daughter came into the kitchen asking for milk.

Absentmindedly, I picked up the cup (containing the boiling hot oil), not by it's handle by by the sides.

The pain didn't come immediately but when it did, it was burning hot sensation. Dropped the cup on the floor. Fortunately, it missed my feet or I would have burnt my feet too.

Now I am suffering. Trying to relieve the pain by holding a cup filled with ice. It helps but I can't take my hand away.

Now typing this with my left hand.

Online marketing blog

I was showing my wife this Internet Marketing Blog that I had just came across and my wife went, "Not another one!"

Well! This blog is slightly different. A number of the posts are on Social Media Optimization and Social Media Marketing. Michael Brito does talk about Search Engine Optimization, Paid Search and Web Strategy topics too and I can see that unlike a few other self declared "SEO experts", I think Michael knows what he is talking about.

Even though he transferred his blog to this new domain only in September 2006, it already has a 4 Google page rank.

Among the several interesting posts, I found one of particular interest titled- "Can Social Media Kill a Brand?" I totally agree with him. Unfortunately a lot of companies continue to ignore social media at their own risk.

I definitely recommend this blog for those who are interested in online marketing.

Malaysian bloggers boleh

I looked at some blog directories and compared the number of Malaysian bloggers with that of 5 other neighbouring countries, namely, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The results are quite impressive.

Here are the figures for each directory:

A. RICE BOWL JOURNALS

1. Brunei - 30
   
2. Indonesia - 251
   
3. Malaysia - 855
   
4. Philippines - 1560
   
5. Singapore - 858
   
6. Thailand - 53

Malaysia is ranked 3rd here. The number of Filipino bloggers is quite impressive. Probably due to the fact that a lot of them are Americans whose Ethnic origin is the Philippines.

B. DIARIST

1. Brunei - 0
   
2. Indonesia - 11
   
3. Malaysia - 109
   
4. Philippines - 140
   
5. Singapore - 98
   
6. Thailand - 27

Malaysia is ranked 2nd here

C. MISOHONI: BEST BLOGS IN ASIA

1. Brunei - 7
   
2. Indonesia - 0
   
3. Malaysia - 206
   
4. Philippines - 128
   
5. Singapore - 248
   
6. Thailand - 15

Malaysia is also ranked 2nd here.

4. BLOGFLUX

1. Brunei - 11
   
2. Indonesia - 297
   
3. Malaysia - 578
   
4. Philippines - 588
   
5. Singapore - 319
   
6. Thailand - 117

Malaysia is ranked 2nd again here.

5. BLOG EXPLOSION

1. Brunei - 5
   
2. Indonesia - 76
   
3. Malaysia - 556
   
4. Philippines - 598
   
5. Singapore - 370
   
6. Thailand - 26

Malaysia is ranked 2nd again here.

That's an overall average ranking of 2.2. The Philippines comes out on top with an average rank of 1.4. Singapore has an overall average ranking of 2.4.

NOTE:
- The number of blogs are correct as of 6th April, 2007.
- This is not a measure of the quality of blogs.

Malaysian Bloggers Boleh.

Vonage forums

Vonage offers VoIP Internet phones,for consumers and small businesses. A much cheaper alternative to traditional phone services. It has a number of features and offers extensive coverage in the US, Canada and the UK.

Vonage forums is an independent support site which offers information about VOIP, Vonage News, reviews and discussions. I learnt on the site that, as of March 28, they now have over 40,000 members on the forum.

Even if you are not a Vonage user, You might also want to check out their forum to see what other users have to say about their service and to discuss VOIP reviews.

High Tea at Nottingham

Drove to Nottingham yesterday, the second time this year. Our friend Amrul had invited us for high tea at his house, which he rents with a Thai and a Vietnamese friend (a mini Asean).

My wife had printed out the directions from the RAC website. It was really rubbish. I personally prefer the AA Route planner, which is way more detailed.

There was a lot of traffic on the motorways (M6, M69 and M1) and after a really stressful drive, we finally reached Nottingham. We left the M1 at junction 24 (following the RAC directions). We realised that the route was different from the one we had taken last time when we passed the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.

Ultimately we got lost and we had to call for help. We really, really need a GPS sat nav. One of Amrul's housemates found us at the University of Nottingham's West gate and led us all the way to their house.

Amrul is a great cook. He was really kind to make some vegetarian dishes for me. Take a look at the Tiramisu he made.


Other Malaysian friends, Shah and Zarina (also PhD scholars at the University of Nottingham) also joined us later with their kids. They also brought along some goodies they had cooked up.

Delicious. We still have some left overs we brought back in the fridge.

Fortunately the way back was faster. I relied on my memory and instinct alone.

Back up your stuff online

Most people I know have experienced loss of data at one time or the other due to hardisk failure, lap top stolen or in rare cases, flash drive falling into the toilet (this has actually happened to a friend).

The solution is back up, back up and back up. Most people usually buy a external hard disk for this purpose.

However, there has been a growth of online storage services recently for obvious reasons - it has a lot of advantages over storage in a external hard disk at home. The obvious advantage is of course the ability to access the data from anywhere place in the world with Internet access.

IBackup - Online Storage Drive is one of the newest in the market. The unique feature about this service is that, this online storage account as seen as a local drive on your computer allowing you to drag-n-drop, open, edit and so on.

If you are worried about security, they have a 128 bit SSL encryption.

They have various subscription plans to suit your budget and requirments. You can even start a free trial by sending them your e-mail.

Best game guns

Updated: 7 April, 2014

Watch this YouTube video of the Top 10 all time best game guns.

A long time ago, used to spend hours playing Contra with my friends, and the Spread gun listed here at ~ 8, was my fav too.

I don't really like first-person shooter games anymore but at one time, was really into Doom.



What's your favourite?

Tags: doom contra video games guns