BuzzLife

Works Ministry will decide whether to allow the 5 concessionaires to increase the toll rate scheduled in 2007. Read theStar published on August 30, 2006.

I am just wondering whether this is good news or what?

We have come a long way. 49 years of Independence. A year from today, we will be celebrating the golden jubilee of Hari Merdeka.

May we continue to have peace, harmony, unity, and prosperity.

Let’s continue to uphold our pride and principles of being a Malaysian, rejoice wholeheartedly, how lucky we are to be a MALAYSIAN.

A merdeka thought which came in my email from Kalai:

31st August 2006 is the 49th year of this country’s independence from British colonialism and the day of joyful shouts of “Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka!” Those days my grandmother and father use to talk about the condition of the life before and after we gain the independence. I felt the patriotism in it, but now it is simply known as another public holiday for us to go for shopping or vacation. As for me it is the most memorable epoxy in the history of our country.

And let’s hold hand and count down to the golden jubilee of our Independence. May everyday be as special as our Independence Day.

Happy Merdeka Day!

Yesterday, I received the following SMS from an ex-colleague who is a resident of USJ..

The message received on 29.08.2006 at 04:29pm as follows:

-Orginal Message-

Urgent! If you c car WFExxxx (I delete car registration number) wira aeroback green col pls cal2d police!A18yrs chi.gal jst kidnapped by5malays at parade rooftop carpark

My first reaction was, Is this authentic? Who can verify? Parade? Does that mean Subang Parade or Klang Parade? I was made to understand that recently USJ crime watch has activated the so-called SMS crime alert whereby residents have to subscribe to get the alert and residents are not supposed to forward the SMS. Is this SMS originated from the USJ crime alert team? I was wondering. (I do not subscribe the alert because I am not a resident of USJ/SJ).

At a glance, the quick spreading of this news via SMS is a great way to fight crimes, that is if the kidnapped girl’s life is endangered. However, what if the SMS is a crank alert, the life of the driver of the said vehicle will be endangered instead. As such, I did not forward this SMS to anybody, having no one to verify for me.

Today, I found out that the the SMS was indeed authentic and it was reported in theStar. However, as reported in the news, the abduction actually happened on Monday (28.8.2006), and the girl was released unharmed on the same day. The SMS came in a day late and the "parade" was actually Ipoh Parade. The State CID chief verified that. However, there was no verification on the vehicle registration number.

What amazed me was the way the news spread like wild fire, and I must laud the police (from almost all the states in the west coast) for not taking any chance and swing full force into action to the "rescue".

This "incident" is an eye opener to me and I shouldn’t take this kind of alert for granted. In future, if I receive such alert via SMS or email or any other media, I would just forward it to Rakan Cop Hotline at 32728.

Are we losing more brain cells as we grow older? Or is it because of some damaging habits that we have instilled unconsciously? Some tips on how to take care of our brain which I extracted from a Health Magazine. And remember to practice what you read ya..

1. Skipping Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

Blogging, is now not just a hobby. The audience on blogs is the cream of the crop. Read the incredible stories of how one turns his passion into an online empire. With a daily, regular traffic of 1.5 million viewers and patronized by tech executives, how could he not generate USD$60,000 a month in advertisement revenue alone. How about Fark.com, a site packed with sophomoric humor run by a lone guy is on pace to become a multimillion-dollar property. Find out how they and others become millionnaires by just blogging. Via Cnnmoney.com, published on 22nd August 2006.

Oh yes, before that, CNNmoney.com reported that blogging-for-money phenomenon is only at its infancy. With overall Web advertising expected to grow by 50 percent to $23.6 billion in 2010, it’s certain that more and more ad dollars will land on blogs. So folks, why wait? Start blogging if you haven’t yet, and if you have, all the best. Who knows you will be the first Malaysian millionnaire blogger!

Blogging for big bucks

(Business 2.0) — Michael Arrington is a partying kind of guy. While showing off his home in Atherton, Calif., he boasts about how he crammed 500 people into his one-acre backyard at a bash in February. Then there are the official parties, like the one he threw last Friday at August Capital, a nearby venture firm. Weeks ago, Arrington posted an open invitation on his website at 3 a.m. By sunrise, all 500 spots were taken; the onslaught of traffic crashed his site.

Arrington, a 36-year-old entrepreneur behind a long list of unrecognizable startups, has suddenly become one of the rising stars of Silicon Valley. Why? The answer lies in TechCrunch, Arrington’s blog about new technologies and companies. In the year since he launched the site, he’s become a go-to person for VCs and tech execs looking to leak corporate tidbits or announce news. More than 1.5 million readers regularly check out his site.

Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch has seen a 10-fold rise in revenue since the start of this year.

More from Business 2.0 5 best airports for business travelers The $100 million giveaway The Wal-Mart of used cars Fastest Growing Tech Companies Current Issue Subscribe to Business 2.0

But here’s what gives Arrington real distinction: He’s pulling in $60,000 in ad revenue every month. That’s 10 times what the site was making earlier this year, which was when Arrington, convinced of the potentially monstrous riches ahead, quit his day job as president of a startup to blog full-time.

With Internet-like speed, blogs have gone from self-indulgent hobbies to flourishing businesses. Real businesses, with real revenue streams from real advertisers.

Boing Boing, a four-person operation that bills itself as a directory of wonderful things, is on track to gross an estimated $1 million in ad revenue this year. The digital-media news site PaidContent.org, headquartered in the second bedroom of a Santa Monica apartment, is set to post even more than that.

And Fark.com, a site packed with sophomoric humor run by a lone guy in Lexington, Ky., is on pace to become a multimillion-dollar property. In short, some of the most popular blogs, long the bane of the mainstream media, are themselves becoming mainstream.

What has changed? For starters, blogs today are so cheap to create and operate that a lone blogger or a small team can, with the ever-expanding reach of the Internet, amass vast audiences and generate levels of profit on a per-employee basis that traditional media companies can only fantasize about.

At the same time, advertisers - shunning old-line media in favor of the Web - are discovering the unique power of blogs. Blogs have become our guides to a content-saturated world. As such, their recommendations are highly valued by readers - which naturally has made advertisers take notice.

In recent months, big-name companies like Banana Republic and Coca-Cola (Charts) have for the first time run ad campaigns on blogs, in the belief that blog communities often consist of concentrated numbers of the passionate and influential people all marketers want to reach. Intel bought its first blog ad in March; now all its ads run on blogs as well as traditional outlets. Says Thom Campbell, head of media strategy for Intel (Charts), "The audience on blogs is the cream of the crop."

But before you quit your day job, consider that this isn’t easy money, nor is it guaranteed to last. For one thing, the market is small right now: Web ad agency Organic puts ad spending on blogs at $40 million this year. Bloggers are typically selling only about a third of their available ad space at top rates. (The rest goes at heavily discounted prices.)

Still, the blogging-for-dollars phenomenon is only in its infancy, and already blog ad spending is roughly twice what it was last year. With overall Web advertising expected to grow by 50 percent to $23.6 billion in 2010, it’s certain that more and more ad dollars will land on blogs.

For a growing cadre of bloggers, the opportunities to score fat profits from pumping out posts on whatever their particular passions might be are widening - and one consequence could be a radical reshaping of our notions of how to build a successful media company.

Trying to provide those opportunities has become the mission of a host of would-be blog entrepreneurs. John Battelle, a founding editor of Wired magazine and the creator of the now-defunct Industry Standard (as well as a freelance columnist for Business 2.0), was working on a book about Google (Charts) when he had an epiphany: Bloggers were building huge audiences for free. Yet even popular bloggers couldn’t make a living full-time; existing networks like Google and BlogAds weren’t paying enough.

Battelle figured he could find out which bloggers were already generating heavy traffic, and then serve as a middleman between them and advertisers. He launched his startup, called Federated Media Publishing, last fall with seed money from the New York Times Co (Charts). and eBay (Charts) founder Pierre Omidyar.

Battelle compares FM’s model to a record company. He and his team are the band managers; the bloggers are the bands. The key difference is that bloggers own their content, earning 60 cents of every ad dollar.

He has signed about 75 of the most popular bloggers of various stripes, and hopes to land a few hundred in all. FM’s eight-person sales force has been aggressively approaching big marketers, armed with detailed and persuasive demographics.

And Battelle believes Fark.com, a collection of reader-submitted links to amusing videos, jokes, and curiosities from all over the Web, could become the most profitable site in mainstream blogdom. Already it vies with FM stablemate MetaFilter for the top spot in blog traffic rankings.

Any downturn in the economy and ad market will, of course, hurt bloggers. The sheer numbers of blogging-for-dollars artists charging into the game could also muddy the market and put pressure on ad rates.

Still, it’s far easier to weather a downturn when your costs are next to nothing. Plus, many players are diversifying, even within the blogosphere. "I know that I’m riding the Web 2.0 wave," says Arrington. Now he’s preparing for a day when the wave crests.

He just launched a gadget site and staffed it with a former writer for Gizmodo. He has plans for a gaming site and a site devoted exclusively to analyzing heavy-duty enterprise software. Even as he expands, however, he expects to keep his expenses - now about 12 percent of revenue - at no more than 30 percent. And occasionally there are bonuses.

With little effort, Arrington got dozens of sponsors, mostly Web 2.0 startups and VCs, to bankroll the party he held Friday at August Capital. So after a night of revelry, Arrington had pocketed an extra $50,000. Now that’s something to blog about.

It is not materialized yet. The proposal from Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development Ministry under Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to push to increase the current 60-days paid maternity leave to 84 days is temporarily on hold: Read :thestar Longer Maternity Plan On Hold and my previous post: Hooray to 84 days maternity leave

The reason being the "objection" of certain ministries which claim that the extended leave affect productivity, our economy and cause some inconviences to certain sectors?  Datuk Sharizat announced that her ministry will submit a revised proposal but no date and details were given.

Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.

Viewers love celebrity gossips. News editors love them even more. Hmm.. let’s see who will get the best viewship rating tonight. Take a look at this intense rating wars on our tubes all to be held on 28th August 2006:

1. Via TV3 from 9.00pm : Perkahwinan Siti Nurhaliza dan Datuk Khalid : Live telecast of the fairy-tale wedding (bersanding ceremony) of Malaysian pop diva Siti Nurhaliza and businessman Datuk Khalid Mohamad Jiwa, from the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.

Picture courtesy of TV3 Malaysia

2. Via Astro from 8.30pm : Live interview of Mawi by Aznil Nawawi. Mawi, who becomes the hottest male singer after winning the Akademi Fantasia 3 in 2005. His most controversial broken-engagement to Nor Diana binti Mohd Daim has “popularized” his ex-fiancee, a nobody before this. She has since ventured into singing and expected to release her debut album next month and her new book, “Catatan Duka Diana Daim”. Earlier at 7.30pm, Astro will broadcast the pre-recorded interview of Ina by Cit Cat host Aswan Ali, on her break-up with Mawi.

Picture courtesy of Mawi Friends Community

3. Via TV1 from 8.45pm : Santai..Ina, the live interview of Nor Diana by actor Rosyam Noor. Ina, as she is popularly known now, is expected to tell her side of story about the strained relationship with the pop sensation.

Although the spokesman of these TV stations claim that it is merely coincidence, simultaneus timing of these live shows make our tv programmes tonight just as spicy. If rival TV stations decide to telecast the interviews of Mawi and Diana simultaneously with the most-talked wedding of the year, it clearly means that not everyone is a fan of Siti. It has been quite sometime since we have such juicy stories been aired live. Sponsors will have a hard time to decide which TV station to choose tonight. Stay tuned to your favorite TV channels..

Updates : Who is correct?????

Thestar published on 30th August 2006 says –> Siti : 6.3 million views via TV3 vs. Mawi : 4.7 million via TV1

Bernama published on its website on 29th August 2006 says –> Siti : 4.3 million viewers vs. Mawi 1.6 million viewers.

Another piece of scaremongering news? Read on :

Via The Daily Mail, UK published on 25th August 2006

A gender-bending chemical found in babies’ bottles and tin cans may cause breast cancer, scientists have warned.

Bisphenol A, used in the manufacture of CD cases, lunchboxes, sunglasses, water bottles babies’ bottles and tin cans, has been linked to health problems ranging from cancer to miscarriage and infertility.

Industry has previously claimed the chemical is broken down by the body, making it safe to use. But new research casts doubt on this, with experiments showing the chemical remains carcinogenic.

The research has reignited calls for the compound - a manmade version of the female sex hormone oestrogen - to be banned.

The scientists looked at what happens to bisphenol A inside the body and whether it affects the growth of breast tumours.

They found that while the chemical is initially broken down, chemicals produced by cancerous tumours can lead to it quickly returning to its original state. Once back to normal, the chemical can go on to speed up the growth of the tumours.

Researcher Dr Theodore Widlanski said: "Enzymes present on the surface of breast tumour cells appear to convert the modified bisphenol A back into bisphenol A."

The Indiana University biochemist said the results meant he was unable to give the chemical a clean bill of health.

"We set out to show the opposite, that bisphenol A is not harmful," he said. "If the answer to any of our questions had been ‘no’, then we would have concluded bisphenol A was not dangerous. But we can’t do that, or we can’t do it yet."

Advising pregnant women and those with hormone disorders to be particularly wary of the chemical, he said: "It doesn’t mean that your bottled water is any less safe today than it was yesterday.

Industry profits

"It just means that if it isn’t safe, we might be able to explain why." He added that was unlikely that bisphenol A was ‘the only culprit’ in causing or speeding up breast cancer. Instead, it is probably one of a cocktail of cancer-causing chemicals.

The experiments - which were been done in the test-tube, rather than in the body - looked at the effects of levels of bisphenol A similar to those the average person would be exposed to over their lifetime.

The findings, published in the journal Chemistry & Biology, have alarmed British experts, who called for industry to re-think its stance.

Gwynne Lyons, a World Wildlife Fund chemicals expert, said: "This should be another nail in the coffin for bisphenol A. It is well known that this substance can derail oestrogen, the female hormone, and evidence for a potential role in breast cancer is now mounting.

"Unfortunately, proof will be very difficult to achieve, and regulators seem more concerned with industry profits than protecting our health."

There is also evidence that synthetic oestrogens affect the environment, leading to fish changing sex and snails’ reproductive systems going into overdrive.

DES, a pregnancy drug similar to oestrogen, has been linked to a string of health problems, including cancer an infertility.

Mega SALES in Malaysia! Women love it, Man? I doubt they love it.. Me? I adore it. I tend to buy on impulse during sales and end up with tons of unnecessary products. My resolution this year would be to boycott all Mega Sales. Otherwise I end up topping up my store room with more idle items and more spat with hubby! Did a spring cleaning last Sunday, and found some idle beauty products in my store room. Let me review why I find them redundant now.

1. Panasonic Handheld Massager (Reach Easy)

Bought for THB2490 in Bangkok just because it is much cheaper than the same model I can get in Malaysia. Purported can ease my tension and massage away my stress. It has the rolling action massage which acts as 4-finger rubdown. I love the rolling function, easy to glide smoothly, providing soothing relaxation. And a knuckle pressure massage feeling by the raised node. It does help in improving my stiffed shoulder when I use it regularly. However, it is not so user friendly and inconvenient to use on your own. You will end up getting worse shoulder ache if you have to reach your back as you manoeuvre the massager. Good for leg muscles though.

I don’t like the soothing heat function which acts as an overall palm rubdown. Somehow it makes my skin itchy, so I hardly use that function. Should have gotten the model without heat function cos it was THB500 cheaper! Love the rolling massage function, easy to use. There is 2 speed but it makes no much differences. Use it occasionally but still feel that hubby made better massager.. Highly recommended for those with a stiffed neck or shoulder and without a partner to give a personal massage! This model is no longer available. Check out Panasonic website for latest model information.

2. Panasonic Pore Cleanser (EH2592)

Bought for about 3,000Yen during my last trip to Japan. It is operated by a 1.5V battery. Thought it will help to remove my blackheads but cheh.. can’t even removes 10% of my blackheads. Maybe I have TOO many blackheads, huh or probably because my model does not have a "steaming" function which helps to open up pores, as such sunction is bad. But then I normally steam my face with OGAWA facial steamer (another reduntant product) before I use the pore cleanser. Oh yes, it sticks so hard to my nose, and as I pulled it off, it leaves some "mark". I guess it is not so useful for someone my age.. the pulling effect may cause my skin to sag faster, and yet can’t clear the white and black heads. Not recommended!

3. Ogawa Facial Steamer (Beau’ Face model VGRF-8000)

This weird looking machine is a facial steamer. "Deep cleanse for true beauty", the tagline had me bought on impulse. Bought from Ogawa, not expensive though. RM80, 50% off the recommended retail price during promotion. The steam mist helps to open pores for deep cleansing. Safety is assured whereby power is automatically cut off when water tank is empty. Very convenient to dismantle the tank and refill. Useful, but becareful because the steam could get too warm for our face. For a RM80 product, no complaint lah but still ends up in cold storage. I still prefer to visit the beauty parlour for a relaxation facial therapy treatment.

Oh dear, the Maybank "Mega Sales" catalogue just hit my pigeon hole, and boy.. how can I can’t resist the temptation of HP iPAQ rw6828 or the O2 XDA Atom Exec.. saliva drooling.. on my way to buzz Hello Station and Mobile City this weekend, never mind my resolution for a moment. Will let you know my choice.

Via CNet Asia,

"Whitegoods are dull. Nobody takes them seriously. Once dominant Japanese manufacturers have completely surrendered these menial commodities to Korean and Chinese firms, they keep on building basically the same old box year after year, although they are making it cheaper and cheaper. In this area at least, their creative mind goes only skin deep. Milliards of colors and printed patterns. Gothic, art nouveau, classic Tang dynasty style, and so on.

A few years ago, a strange wind started blowing through the Japanese whitegoods market. Incredible curiosities, things like a US$1,000 rice cooker, or US$2,000 washing machine. Not a Korean/Chinese cosmetic surgery whitegood, but really innovative and terribly expensive gadgets."

How to "evolutionalize" our white goods? What other usage do we need for our Refrigerator other than keeping our food fresh longer? A talking refrigerator that gives an alert about the expiry date of our stored food would be a bonus. Or how about a refrigerator equipped with an "anti-burglar" system or even a TV?

Or,

A washing machine that will give us a buzz once laundry is done wherever we are. Would that be quite a redundant? So what if we know our laundry is ready if we are not there to collect it. Read Laundry Day Going High Tech

Or,

How about an instant water heater which can provide you purified drinking water that you can drink directly without boiling? Well, would a hygiene conscious person willing to collect drinking water from bathroom? How many of us actually drink during showering?

The next question will be how many people are willing to fork out RM10,000 for a refrigerator or a washing machine or RM2,000 for an instant water heater. Hmmm.. home appliance is afterall just a home appliance. No matter how manufacturers "evolutionalize" them, nobody will take them seriously.

Looking at today’s air quality from my naked eyes and nose, I wonder whether we will choke our way to Hari Merdeka and it is only 9 days away. Read this. Even Wikepedia does not spare us, Read my previous post, Hazy Spell, the oxidative stress.

Why does haze have to intrude our lives few times in a year? What are we going to do about it or should I rephrase, what can we do about it? Practically nothing! We either migrate some where far, far away or stay put and bear with it.. or do our bit to improve air quality at home.. Go get yourself a good quality air purifier, it really helps.

What do you see?

A FROG?

I tell you I see a HORSE.. No? Rotate the photo anti-clockwise and tell me what you see.

Still a Frog? or Horse? or both?

Moral : Always respect and see the opinion of others from all angles. All we need is patiently listen to other’s point of view before we pass judgement..