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Ah…the smell of the ocean, lush rainforest, relaxing spas, good food- what more can one expect?

Ah…the smell of the ocean, lush rainforest, relaxing spas, good food- what more can one expect?

The company will be off to our annual trip tomorrow and this time, we are heading to the beach. Come to think of it, ALL of our company trips were beach trips- the benefit of being a Malaysian is that trips are either way up in the highlands or way down in the beach.

This time around, however, we are headed to the luxurious Pangkor Laut Resort. Ah, the place where Pavarotti shed tears because he said that it resembled paradise or heaven (how he knew what paradise or heaven looked like wasn’t entirely clear but I think that overweight opera singers probably have a direct line with the Almighty seeing how they always look up to the sky dramatically when they sing). But seriously, it is THAT nice.

It isn’t my first time as I had been there a couple of years back. The accommodations were first class and the facilities were excellent. What’s different now is that they had completed the Spa Village and after reading what they wrote, I can’t wait to be there!

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End of MSN Chat

Microsoft is shutting down MSN chat rooms around the world because they claim that they are unsafe for children. However, will this make the Internet a safer place?

The short answer is: NO. Taking away just one channel out of a possible unlimited channels where minors can chat does not a safer Internet make. In fact, it might even be more dangerous. The danger is if parents are lulled into a false sense of security by the move. Minors still can have access to Instant Messaging (whether MSN, Yahoo!, AOL or ICQ) or other on-line bulletin boards.

And with Microsoft being a market leader, their social responsibilities are higher. What is astounding is that Microsoft chose the easy way out (by shutting down) instead of doing something more proactive to mitigate the problem. MSN portals could and should be used by Microsoft to teach children about safe Internet surfing.

Of course, one can’t deny the financial aspect of the move as Microsoft can cut it’s MSN portal operation costs down. But in this case, they should have put people

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Apple’s New 15″ Aluminum PowerBook

Apple’s new 15″ Aluminum PowerBook raises techno-lust to nearly uncontrollable levels.

The spanking new, deliciously sexy, wondrously sensual 15″ Aluminum PowerBook from Apple is just too much! I’ve been using the old Titanium 15″ for about a year and a half now and I have absolutely no major complains- with the exception of:-

1. The LCD screen had 3 to 4 dead pixels (I’ve gotten a perfect replacement second LCD display after the first one stopped working totally during the 11th month)
2. The 30GB hard disk failed (I’ve replaced the faulty hard disk myself with a 40GB one since the component was a standard)

Apart from the 2 hardware issues, the PowerBook was a dream to use. Before the announcement, I was anticipating a little too much (G5 notebook?) but I guess that something is better than nothing, huh?

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Our Prime Minister, an anti-semite?

Much has been made, especially in Malaysia and Israel over some recent statements that were made by our Prime Minister, the right honorable Dr. Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, during the OIC meeting. The statement that offended the most (to the Israelis and the rest of the world) was that “Jews rule the world”. Frankly, I do not know how to make of it but if someone said that the Chinese rule the world, I would be pretty happy. And smug. Probably go out and test my new master/ruler attitude on the peons who toil for my pleasure.

Or perhaps, the Israelis were unhappy with further statements like “Jews get people to die for their causes”. Maybe, just maybe, they are pissed off because Mahathir stated the the “Jews rule the world by proxy”. I mean, the nerve of the guy to imply that a proxy IS required in the first place!

But seriously, I think that the Jewish conspiracy thing has been carried out for far too long. I mean if it lasts this long, it’s probably true just like the Who-Killed-JFK-Conspiracy or The-Government(US)-Covered-Up-UFO-Conspiracy. My advice is to my Jewish friends who are offended to lighten up a little bit and to take the speech in context.

The speech was made to an assembly of Islamic country leaders and, in my humble opinion, provocatively addresses pertinent issues that are faced by the global Muslim community. Mahathir goes off on his usual paternal tough-love lecturing on how some Muslims have got it all wrong (ie. suicide bombings, tribal in-figthing, shunning of technology and knowledge, etc). Now those who had followed his speeches during UMNO assemblies would find nothing out of place but all these could be unnerving for some of the international delegates present in the shiny new convention center in Putrajaya. All this is akin to watching Dr. Phil tear up Oprah’s guests and audience because he truly cares (and loves) them.

Taken in context, the speech berated the Muslims for not following in the Jew’s footsteps. If this came from a non-Muslim, cries of protests (and perhaps death warrants) would be heard from extremist and religiously perverted groups from around the world. Hopefully, the speech will inspire some leader to look into the whole Muslim-Jewish-West confrontation with a shift in paradigm, that is conquering the enemy through peaceful acts and words.

My perspective is that people should try the peaceful protest way. People should learn from the culture and history of India, a proud country that has given birth to 2 of the world’s best known pacifists:- Buddha and Gandhi. Not that I am asking people to convert to Buddhism- though it is not really a religion- but to follow in the footsteps of using peace to overcome adversity. Now if only India can do the same thing with Pakistan…but that, my readers, is for another blog.

* Do note that the quotes from Mahathir’s speech are NOT in verbatim but has been recalled from the author’s memory as he did not have access to the Internet during the writing of this blog 🙂

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The alpha

This is the very first entry in my weblog using iBlog- a great product given away for free by the good people of .Mac with every subscription!

I think blogging is a good way to preserve one’s ideas and personality after the inevitable expiration of one’s material self. The Egyptians believed that mummification of a pharaoh king allows for eternal life after death. And in a way it is true. What the pyramids preserved, in addition to mummified remains, are the writings, jewelry, stories and documents from the pharaoh’s life. By studying these artifacts, one experiences again the pharaoh king through the richness of the written language.

What I’m trying to do here is to record my thoughts as much as possible. What triggers an entry for me will be one of the following reasons:-
1. I am bored.
2. I am ecstatic
3. I am sad
4. I am happy
5. I have nothing to share
6. I have lots to share

Each pair is a contradiction but then again, so am I. These writings, before the blog, are normally written and stored in my Powerbook, but now, I am publishing them for the world to read.