Boys day out

My wife Linda has to work this weekend and today she brought Mia along while Adam followed his Dad for a day out in the city.
After dropping the girls off at the office, we went to a mystery place near Bukit Bintang. I parked the car there and we walked around to find breakfast. First we visited the Celcom Big Deal promotion. They're selling some prepaid cards and broadband modem, big deal.
Then we head to a McDonald's in Bukit Bintang for breakfast. The hot cake with butter and syrup was delicious. Adam found Missing Link to be more interesting than breakfast though, he hardly ate anything.
After breakfast, we returned to the 'mystery place'. We toured the entire 1st floor several times looking for something. Adam thought going round in circles was pretty boring and decided to sit down and relax. I didn't find what I wanted first time round.
I promised to take him to a playground today. First I thought of going to KLCC but then I remembered we had to pay to park there. So we head to the Lake Gardens Taman Tasik Perdana) instead.
The parking here is free and the playground is 3 times as large too. Although was 12:00 in the afternoon and the sun is scorching overhead, it didn't matter to Adam. He was too excited to play at the playground to notice. The park was quite empty save for a few visitors. Nobody in their right mind comes here at noon. I let Adam play until he's had enough.
For lunch we went to A&W. Adam must be wondering what's got into his Dad today. Usually he's very cheapskate budget-conscious and rarely brought him to McDonald's or any fast-food outlets but today we went there twice!
Finally, we returned to 'mystery place' where I found what I've been looking for at last. Okay la, it's Low Yat Plaza, not very mysterious anymore. First time we went there not many shops were open yet so there's not much choice and bargaining to do. This time I found and bought my dream phone at a very reasonable price. More details and review to come. Stay tuned!

Goodbye Michael

May Allah bless you soul.



Thank you for the music.

If you like to laugh yourself silly, there's an app for that

To understand the gist of this joke you'll have to first watch Apple's new "there's an app for that" commercial at You Tube or from the official Apple website.
After watching at least a couple of those commercial, head on to the App For That website that gives you a series of user submitted “App For That” jokes, which you can vote on, tweet out, email, etc. The service looks like the iPhone’s text app, with submissions written in chat bubbles. To refresh the page with the latest joke, just hit the refresh button in the middle. And if you'd like to submit your own jokes, there's a form for that at the website.

Too bad the comic value of this joke will be gone after the first half an hour or so.

My Vibe turn your iPhone into a vibrator

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Nokia E61i phone for sale (Sold)

For sale: One used Nokia E61i phone, owned by yours truly. I only used it for less than 3 months only and it is with a heavy heart that I put up this phone for sale.
Although not the latest in line, the Nokia E61i is among the best entry-level smart phone ever made by Nokia.
Some of it key features include Quad-band GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/3G, 2.8" QVGA landscape active-matrix color display, Symbian S60 3rd Edition OS, QWERTY keyboard with backlight, 2 megapixel camera with video recording, email with support for POP/IMAP/SMTP protocols, SMS, MMS and Instant messaging client...
...music player with MP3 & AAC format support, video & audio streaming via 3GPP and RealMedia, 60 MB internal memory with microSD slot for up to 2GB external memory, Java MIDP 2.0 games & applications, WLAN 802.11b/g wireless, Infrared & Bluetooth and HTML & XHTML browsing with Nokia Web Browser/Opera Mini.
It is in 100% good working condition and I usually take good care of my phone (won't even let my kids touch them). The screen is covered with a screen protector so it's scratch free and the battery life is still quite good (2.5 days with active use).
The phone comes with a charger, 1GB microSD card and a Nokia PopArt USB cable to connect to your PC. You can download the latest version of Nokia PC Suite software from here.
The asking price for this phone will be RM600.00 not inclusive of delivery and specially for the readers of this blog, it's negotiable. I have also put up this phone for sale at the Lelong.com.my website and you can be assured that I'm a verified Lelong member with 100% positive feedback. Payment only via Maybank online/manual transfer only. Contact me via e-mail, Facebook or just bid on my Lelong page if you're interested with this phone.

Update:
I'm happy to announce that I've found a buyer for this phone today. Pleasure doing business with you sir.

Puspakom vehicle inspection

Puspakom, incorporated in 1994 is the sole company recognized by the government for computerized vehicle inspection centre. Usually people only go to Puspakom to get their vehicles checked because:

1. Routine inspection for commercial vehicles every 6 months under the Road Transport Act 1987.

2. Initial inspection for transfer of ownership for commercial vehicles.

3. Special inspection for lost of registration card, change of engine, change of chassis, road tax renewal which expired more than one year, change of body and also for new and used imported cars.

Today I was very 'fortunate' to get to bring the company's commercial vehicle for inspection at a Puspakom Centre in Bangi. There are over 60 Puspakom Centres nationwide but anywhere you go, avoid the Wangsa Maju centre at all cost. It's a jungle over there.
The one in Bangi is located at Taman Perindustrian Selaman, near the Pos Malaysia depot. Try Google Maps for direction.
When you get there, don't just barge into the workshop. Look back and you'll see a queue behind you. One for private vehicles and another for commercial vehicles. Get in line and wait patiently for your turn. While waiting for my turn, I used my imaginary iPhone 3GS to surf high-speed Internet and check my e-mails. For the ladies, now is a good time to start knitting or something.
The queue could be 20 minutes to an hour long depending on when you show up and also your luck. When you're about 2 or 3 vehicles away from your turn, find this security guard here and ask for your number. Then proceed to the registration counter and pass your documents and payment to the staff there. The fees could be from RM50 to RM90 depending on vehicle and inspection type. Check out the full price list here.
Now it's finally your turn for the inspection. This could take from 10 minutes to half and hour depending on your vehicle's condition. You shouldn't have any problems if your vehicle is well kept or brand new. You can sit in the air-conditioned but tiny room while you wait.
If everything goes well, the inspection will finish shortly and you will get this certificate of inspection for you to stick on your windscreen.



p.s:

A shoutout to the penkid b**ch that drove a blue Proton Satria registration number WES 6899 to Puspakom Bangi this afternoon. Next time get in line like everybody else.

23 June 2009

Happy Birthday Sayang.


You. Complete. Me.



New Student

So this is it. The big day. The beginning of a new chapter in my life. I woke up bright and early today. Got all the documents needed for the registration ready weeks in advance. I paid the fees two days ago at a Bank Islam's branch in Putrajaya. Parking was terrible there in Parcel E.
I decided to go alone. I expected the registration process to be a very long, boring and tedious process. Definitely not so suitable to bring little children along. 10 years ago I'd bring my parent along. Today I think I can manage all by myself.
When I first saw the UiTM campus, I found myself smiling alone. Standing proud at the university's entrance, the archway was like a shining beacon of hope giving lost travellers like me a second chance in life (wah Afif is so philosophical!)
Remind me to come early next time. The registration process was scheduled to start at 8:30 AM and I got there only 20 minutes after that and the queue was already like a mile long and there were at least a thousand people in line. I really should have come at 8:00 or earlier.
I didn't see anyone I know plus it's too crowded anyway. The program took place at the Dewan Sri Budiman and the annexe building. They also did some H1N1 screening at the entrance. Not very effective though I think because they basically ask whether you had a flu or not. If you answer no, they'll stick a little green sticker on your cloth. Like that's gonna do any good. If somebody did carry that virus around, we're all screwed today.
We had to queue to 8 different counters from beginning to end. I spent about an hour at the EPF (KWSP) counter to get that confirmation letter from the university. In the beginning there were 2 staff manning the counter but just when it was about to be my turn, one of them changed to another counter leaving this poor lady all by herself. I don't know where's the screwed logic in doing that especially when the EPF counter is amongst the busiest counter inside the hall.
We queued under a shade, in a crowded hall and also under the burning sun to get our documents sorted out. I think not my bringing my family along is definitely the right decision. The kids would have ran riot around this place. That said, I did saw a few brave parent including one mother dragging their kids along.
By noon my back has started to ache for standing too long and I really needed a toilet break. So I took some time out from all the queuing and had lunch which was provided free for the students. I call it the insincere menu (menu tak ikhlas) because the rice was so little and so was the vegetable, beef and chicken. It's great if you're on diet or something but for the rest of us, it's quite pathetic. I thinks somebody made a handsome profit catering for this event today.
Next was the photography for the student card session. I think I overdressed for the occasion. I wore a chequered pink shirt and black trousers, tucked in some more. Some people just showed up with their t-shirt and jeans on. But then, they'll have to wear an ugly blazer for this photography session.
This is the last counter that we had to go to hand over some final documents. It was already 1:00 PM when I finally finished queueing. After that I went to the surau to pray and get some rest.
You know any government function would not be complete without hearing a few speeches from the VIPs. That was the final agenda for the day followed by a briefing and a Q&A session. And so the day has come to the end. My ahem, class will start next month, July 19th to be exact at INTEC in section 17, Shah Alam. The good news is my class is only once a month, 3 times a semester. The not so good news is, they'll be my new routine for the next 4 years! Goodness, I could have a new kid by then. Apparently I was not the only one surprised there.

But it's okay, I'm ready for anything. 4 years or not I must make this happen. This time no more fooling around and it's hard work all the way. I'm so pepped up and raring to go. Alright, I think that's it for now. I need to go memorize the song UiTM di hatiku before my next class haw-haw!

Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves

To be honest, I'm not really big on punk rock music except for a few exceptions. And Rancid is an exceptional punk rock band. Their 1995 album ...And out come the wolves is probably the best punk rock album ever made. Over half of the songs in this album is really good including 3 of their smash hit singles - "Roots Radical", "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho".
I loved this album so much that I bought the cassette and even a t-shirt featuring the album's cover in front. I wore that T only once though because I was too fat it didn't fit. Whatever happened to that cool t-shirt today is still a mystery. ...And out come the wolves has 19 songs but I only uploaded the good ones here. Enjoy!

...And out come the wolves (1995)

1. Maxwell Murder
2. The 11th Hour
3. Roots Radicals
4. Time Bomb
5. Olympia, WA
6. Lock, Step & Gone
7. Junkie Man
8. Listed M.I.A.
9. Ruby Soho
10. Daly City Train
11. Journey to the End of the East Bay
12. She's Automatic
13. Old Friend
14. Disorder and Disarray
15. The Wars End
16. You Don't Care Nothin'
17. As Wicked
18. Avenues & Alleyways
19. The Way I Feel



Got a decision to make? Let's Hunch help you

Decision-making is difficult, and decisions have to be made constantly. Where should I go for a holiday? Do I really need a Ferrari? Should I dump that loser? Whom should I vote for? Which laptop should I buy?
It's a cruel world out there. Coin-flipping, consulting your feng shui master, closing your eyes and jumping, postponing the inevitable, Rock-Paper-Scissors, and asking your sister are all time-honored means of coming to a decision.
In 10 questions or less, Hunch will offer you a great solution to your problem, concern or dilemma, on hundreds of topics. Hunch's answers are based on the collective knowledge of the entire Hunch community, narrowed down to people like you, or just enough like you that you might be mistaken for each other in a dark room. Hunch is designed so that every time it's used, it learns something new. That means Hunch's hunches are always getting better.
To get started, just go to www.hunch.com and type inside the question box. Hunch asks you 10 questions or less, some about what you need or want and some about who you are. Like a human expert, Hunch chooses questions intelligently and adapts them depending on how you answer.
After asking you questions, Hunch offers you a result. There are 3 results (plus a Wild Card) to choose from. You can leave feedback on Hunch's results and also explore other results based on the input of Hunch users.
You can train Hunch or correct a fact it got wrong. This is how Hunch learns and gets smarter.

So Bujal if you're still not sure whether to buy a pink or purple underwear for yourself, you know where to go.

Everclear - Sparkle and Fade

Everclear's Sparkle and Fade is one of my all-time favorite rock album that I bought when I was 16. Listening to this album again today, brought back fond memories of my high school years. There we were at a boarding school in rural Kelantan, surrounded by palm oil trees and secondary jungle, no Internet, MTV or whatever but still we were rocking to Everclear, Greenday and Weezer. How cool is that?
I don't know what happened to the cassete that I bought but even today, Sparkle and Fade is quite hard to come by. Nevertheless, I managed to get my hands on this album and put them up here for all the world to share. My personal favorite songs are listed in bold.

Everclear - Sparkle and Fade (1995)

1. Chemical smile

2. Electra made me blind

3. Heartspark Dollarsign

4. Her brand new skin

5. Heroin girl

6. My sexual life

7. Nehalem

8. Pale green stars

9. Queen of the Air

10. Santa Monica

11. Strawberry

12. Summerland

13. The twistinside

14. You make me feel like a whore

Facebook is the new pink

It's official, Facebook is now the most popular social networking website in the world and in Malaysia it has just knocked Friendster off its perch. I remember only 2 or 3 years ago Myspace and Friendster were the hippest social networking platform around and everybody jumped on the bandwagon. Now all the coolest kids (and adults) is hopping on to Facebook. As for me, I was initially reluctant to join in Facebook cause I thought I've already joined Friendster. But after a while, I registered anyway and soon enough I found out Facebook is way much better than Friendster because of it's numerous applications and cool features.
Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is now valued at a cool $15 billion USD making it the 5th most valuable U.S Internet company behind only Google, Yahoo, E-bay and Amazon. In terms of growth, over 1 million new Facebook users signed up every week, 200,000 daily, totaling over 50 million active users. Facebook received 40 billion page views a month second only to Google in the U.S.
Facebook maybe super-popular now but there's no guarantee that it's going to be that way forever. Social networking sites come and go and who knows someday a new one will come up and overtakes Facebook's popularity?

But for now at least, Facebook rules in the social networking world being no 1 in many countries from Australia to Canada. And in case you forget, in about 14 hour's time (12:00PM Malaysian time) you can choose your very own Facebook username for your Facebook account. So instead of the boring and forgettable

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=123456789

you can change your Facebook profile page to

http://www.facebook.com/myname or http://www.facebook.com/afif.rais

But better mark your calendar and set up your alarm tomorrow for this because this vanity URL will surely run out fast.

Access Hotmail via POP3 in Microsoft Outlook

Step by step guide on how to access your Hotmail/Windows Live Mail from your Microsoft Outlook e-mail client.

Using Microsoft Office Outlook Connector

The easiest way to access your Hotmail account from Microsoft Outlook (2003/2007) is by using the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector program from Microsoft. First download the free application from here.
Install the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector.
Enter your full e-mail address and password.
A new account will be created in your Outlook accounts folder. Should somehow the Office Outlook Connector doesn't work, you'll have to configure your Outlook settings manually.

Instruction for Microsoft Outlook 2003 and older

Open Microsoft Outlook 2003 go to Tools > E-mail Accounts.
Select Add new e-mail account.
Select POP3.
Fill in your details as the picture above. Remember to fill in your full Hotmail/Windows Live e-mail address at the User Name box. After that click the More Settings button.
On the General tab type in your account name, it could be anything (up to you). It's also a good practice to fill in the Reply E-mail box with your full e-mail address.
Next click on the Outgoing Server tab. Tick on My outgoing server (SMTP)requires authentication and select Use same setting as my incoming mail server.
On the Advanced tab, enter 995 for Incoming server (POP3) and 587 or 25 (depending on your ISP) for Outgoing Server. Tick on This server requires and encrypted connection (SSL) for both Incoming and Outgoing server. Click OK to save your settings.
You can now click on Test Account Settings to see whether this configuration works.
To close the wizard click Finish.


Instruction for Microsoft Outlook 2007

Open Microsoft Outlook 2007 and select Tools > Account Settings. On the E-mail tab click New.
Select Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP or HTTP and click Next.
Tick Manually configure server settings or additional server types.
Select Internet E-mail.
Fill in the details as in the picture above. Remember to tick on Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA). After that click on More Settings.
As always, fill in your e-mail address at the Reply E-mail box.
On the Outgoing Server tab tick My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication and fill in your full e-mail address and password. Also tick on Require Secure Password Authentication.
On the Advanced tab, fill in the port numbers as above. Again, the Outgoing server number may be 587 or 25 depending on your Internet Service Provider. Tick on This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL) and select TLS for Outgoing server (SMTP). Click OK to finish...
...and and click Test Account Settings.
Click Finish to exit the configuration.