東山飄雨西關晴

Nice show here....keeps me busy during Xmas..

When Easterly Showers Fall on the Sunny West (See Wiki)




P.S. Hey, why not do something nice this Xmas and help donate to a schoolhere.....

VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE : These links are provided and hosted from a third party server. Please be aware that i found this using a search functionality, helping you discover publicly available websites and their content. I do not host the movie nor is responsible for the content.

Amazing video of a dog rescues another dog

Just happened to see this video clip while browsing.....what an amazing act!

Sad state of affairs in Malaysia

Today, as I was browsing the alternative media in Malaysia, I read an article by Lim Kit Siang on the sad situation with universities in Malaysia. Then I went to google for the facts. If you don't believe what he said about Malaysian universities rankings, you can see for yourself in the THES-QS website. What can I say? Malaysian government and the power-that-be really screwed the country big time. Did they forget that education is the key to progress in society? Now, unless the situation is reversed, Malaysia will fall behind even more in the global rat race. Good people will leave for greener pastures. Australia, New Zealand, England, US...wait, Singapore. I wonder what is the population of Malaysians and ex-Malaysians in Singapore.

UM - 230
UKM - 250
USM - 313
UPM - 320
UTM - 356

Other Unis known to me:
NUS - 30
UCLA - 30
UCB - 36
Monash U - 47
UCSD - 58
NTU - 77
Curtin University of Technology - 232
IIT - Kanpur - 242

NUS is leading the pack here. NTU is also not bad. So I am proud of my schools, haha. Hmm, what about UMIST? Hmmm, Seems like it is out of the list. What about University of Life? Not even there. Being a university graduate will not necessarily make you a better person. Only better advantage in landing a job. I know, because I am rather eccentric. Anyway, looking at the list, it does seem to me that Malaysian Universities find some good companies in the 200-300+ division, like Curtin University. Don't know much about the place except that an ex-classmate graduated from there and lectured there.

Maybe the list means that Malaysian Universities need to publish more papers in reputable journals (in English, please!), produce Noble prize winners and other honours. NUS is very capable of publishing papers. It's the publish or perish mantra.

What does that mean for me? Maybe easier for me to go back home and find job?

Women Soccer

Women soccer is a big thing in US. More than Malaysia, I guess. There is a very good recreational park not far from here by Lake Hodges. I see young girls training on the soccer field regularly. Well, there is a player that made the news on Malaysia's The Star newspaper. A 17-year old girl who can do acrobatic throws. See report here. So I dug up some videos from youtube. Very impressive.





Now let's see how boys do it....



Girls rule!

Here's a video clip which is so funny I have to post it here.

How to fix laptop screen

Just surfing to see how much lcd monitors cost. I thought the smaller the size goes, the cheaper it should be. Apparently not. Smaller LCD monitors are used in vehicle rearview mirror monitor applications. And they are not cheap. While surfing, came across a useful video on how to replace your laptop screen.

First time listening to Feynman's voice!

And it's pronounced as "Fineman". I came across one particular website as I was trying to refresh my memories on Feynman-Dirac statistics and its application on the semiconductor PN junction. There I found out that Britney Spears is actually a pro in physics! Wow, that is one good reason to love physics. There are nice links on the site and that is where I found BBC's interview with Richard Feynman. As you know, I am a big fan of him and it excited me when I found new materials about him.

Internet power on Malaysia politics and Global stock market

What are some of the most important things to watch out for during this month. For Malaysians, maybe the dates 16th or 20th will be the days to keep an eye. Incidentally one of the chapters in a book I recently briefly read called Freakonomics mentioned something about politics, real estate brokers, insurance companies and Ku Klux Klan having something in common. It is very interesting to note that all three groups derived their powers from their possession of information. When they lose grip with information, they are rendered powerless.

With Ku Klux Klan, there is this guy who joined the group and learned everything about them, and then have what he learned broadcasted over the radio. Soon kids even played around with the secret passcodes that the KKK group used, much to the embarrassment of their member fathers. Eventually, the group membership dwindled.

I see a similarity with the crisis faced by the present BN-led government in Malaysia. I guess the hero in this story would be RPK who exposed many of the weaknesses in the coalition government via internet. If you want to read more, go to the Malaysia Today website (it is no longer banned).

As the book pointed out, it is the breakdown of information control that led to the downfall of those groups mentioned above. Today, if you want to get more information about insurance policies or real estate properties, you can do your research on internet. Well, in some places, however, the internet revolution is developing at a slower pace.

If you want to know what is going on with the stock market, you can always do your research on internet. However, I think the biggest challenge is to distinguish good information from bad ones.

Some of the websites I visit which I deemed useful are:

Billcara
Here is where I learned about Joanne Hruska on Market Call with BNN,among others. Most of the time, the recommendation is to buy energy stocks. Check this out.

Wallaston Investments
There is a recent entry which links to some articles which examines the relationship between corporate and government bonds which I find to be very educational. It will help you understand how the market is moving.

Mish
Don't forget this blog too. A lot of interesting articles.

Last but not least, to those who are planning to buy some stocks, I think the time is about right. Probably go for gold, energy stocks......

Others:
Precious Metals

Just my personal update....