Changing face of Malaysian's politics

Read this article on BBC. Interesting yet intriguing to know that our closest neighbour is intent on changing.

Climate change - Do you worry?

Watched a BBC programme highlighting how the climate has changed over the past 150 years after the mini ice age that humans experienced during the mid 19th century. It was very interesting as the programme take viewers from the perspective of explorer Paul Rose views on how man has affected the climate since the industrial revolution in the late 1800s. One of the key evidence came from people who are living in Greenland, whereby majority of the country is covered by ice. Viewers were drawn to the fact that a giant fjord has moved 15km out towards the sea over the past 4 years! And the result was more icebergs breaking into the sea. More evidences were shown with the very distinct changes in the Antarctic continent, where many parts that used to be solid ice couple of years back has now become part of the sea, and the map has to be redrawn to show the latest accurate map. We all seem to take it for granted that life is always so short and we should live it to the fullest, and that usually means earning enough to buy the biggest gas-guzzling car that you can afford or take multiple trips overseas on plane. Guess I kinda fall into this category as well and feel thoroughly shamed of myself after the programme. Personally I have been advocating to all my friends and family about not eating sharks fin, even to strangers whom I feel I should educate them about the mammals' slow reproduction system and how tasteless it is when people are just tasting the chicken stock in fact! I certainly feel I have gained more knowledge about how fragile the world is and coming from Singapore, I certainly do not wish to see the country completely washed up by the rising sea levels in 50 years time. I suddenly feel a great sense of responsibility to educate my family and friends on what I have learnt and I am sure there are many of you out there who share the same as me. Our efforts may not be big, but it sure helps to have 1 more person to help in the cause.

Just downloaded the distributed computing project similar to SETI or FightAids@home, whereby the software uses the unused computing power of your PC to try to simulate the weather changes in the future. I hope you share my same thoughts and remember, we are all part of this world, and we all share a same level of responsibility towards it. The next time you turn on your air condition unit, think about how you much energy you can save if you were to use a fan instead.

BBC Climate Change project to download

Simpsons in real!

If you love the Simpsons like me, you will find the following clip extremely familiar and cute.

How to peel cooked potato skin in one step!

This is applying science at its best in our everyday life. AWESOME!!!
Similar to the "how to fold your t-shirts in 3 steps", this video shows how to peel a potato from its skin in one easy step! I find it so amazing that I have to share with my friends around the world, and I bet there is going to be a sudden spike in potato sales in the next couple of days.

Ipod Hi-Fi - reviewed

Had a play with the Ipod Hifi when I wondered into the flagship Regent's Street store in London. The folks have set up a demo set complete with black Ipod Video and was "showing off" the powess of the speakers. First impression - looks great if you are a minimalist, as there is just one power cable coming out from the back of the speakers that connect to the AC, with the Ipod sitting nicely on top. There are 2 flush button controls in front of the Ipod stand that says "+" and "-". Touching either gently increases or lowers the volume with such ease that you are not even sure if you are actually pressing on it. A green light at the bottom of the speaker shows that the volume has been adjusted as you do it, which is quite neat too.

Now to the real thing - sound. Bass was fantastic for a speaker of this size and vocals were crisp and clear. With the fast track, it sounded that it was able to handle pretty much what the Ipod was throwing at it and was quickly impressed. Taking 2 steps back and you will start to hear the flaws, sound stage is almost non-existent, guess this is a problem if you try to align all your speakers side by side to each other in a box twice the size of your shoe boxes. So was it really as good as what Steve professes it to be? In my opinion, at a price of £249(basically in the same pricing area as Bose), I think I will rather search for an alternative.

Stealth sharks to patrol the high seas

An article from New Scientist is suggesting that engineers and scientists are working to implant chips into sharks so that they can be controlled remotely by humans to navigate the seas for military purposes.

"Imagine getting inside the mind of a shark: swimming silently through the ocean, sensing faint electrical fields, homing in on the trace of a scent." That's what the Pentagon wants to do, says New Scientist. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements using a newly designed neural implant, the military hope to transform the animals into stealth spies."

Completely insane!

Skiing in Zell am See, part 2

Trying to get back to finishing the more exciting bits of the trip, but haven't be able to sit down and write something proper. Haven't help that I did not pen down the trip details immediately after the holiday and details have just been forgotten so easily.

Anyways, for beginners like me, Zell am See is definitely recommended. Go during beginning of Feb and avoid the high season but yet making sure you have the best snow around. Good thing about skiing in Austria is that you do not have to rub your shoulders around with the French, as the majority of the holiday makers comes from across the border Germany or Holland. Picking up few commonly used German phrases are always helpful, although the people there are really friendly as well. We took up a beginners course which charged EUR125 each for 3 days or more. Since we were there only for 4 ski days, we made full use of it and thought it was quite good value as well. Our rental of the skis, boots and poles were slightly more ex, as we took the convenience to rent from the ski shop located in the resort. We have been told that you can get better values if you search around the town below the resort if you want, but I really suggest going with the convenience unless absolutely desperate. The other major cost consideration is the ski pass. Obviously you can get better deals if you buy multiple days, so the trick is to make sure you get your basics right as soon as you can, and get the practice group to go up the mountains rather than the nursery slopes, which is really a bore after the first 2 days. The view from the top of the mountains is pure amazing, especially since I come from a place whereby our highest "mountain" is only called a hill! Once you get the hang on the slopes and the ski basics, you will certainly enjoy the skiing much more. I thought I did as I was really pushing myself hard by going on 1 leg, doing parallel turns, doing mini hops and even attempted a black slope on my last run, which took me almost an hour to get to the bottom of the mountain, causing my gf to be fuming as she literally waited an hour and half for me, not knowing what happened to me. Thinking back, I have to say my heart still race looking down at the slopes, but given another chance, pretty sure I will do it again. Till my next trip(if ever), shall let you know more of my adventures.

Hopefully the planned dive trip to Sipadan during April will be realized as I thoroughly missed diving...the sun, sand, sea, bubbles, fish, whales................