My Computer Chronicles

Good Evening Boys and Girls. Salam Sejahtera to all.

I have been discussing about this since my last blog, munmonlisme ver.1. Well, that did not survive my last financial crisis. Hence, the new version emerges. On with the topic.

Let me see, my first computer was a 8086 in 1986. It was a new experience for me. All I ever knew was playing games. Dig Dug, Alleycats and Montezuma Curse. That was a long time ago. There’s no Windows or any Shell Management at that time. Just plain CMD. MS-DOS was the tool of the trade. Funny to think about it.

Then, the technology moved on. 286, 386 and 486 and finally Pentium. My OS were Windows 3.11 and Windows 95. Followed by Windows 98 and finally Windows XP. When I could afford me own Personal Computer, Windows XP was the OS of choice. Installation was easy and straight forward. Games were plentiful for Windows XP.

There was a time, I was eager to try Linux and gave Mandrake a chance. I did not like it. Trashed it and reverted to Windows. Then came Red Hat, but hey no MP3 support. At that time, I had no Internet connection to seek for help. SuSe came along after that and still dual booted with Windows. I used it for a while.

One day, I came to know about Ubuntu, new Linux Distro and decided to gave it a try. My final days with Windows was a result of one stupid mistake. Truthfully, I am careless, I pressed next and next and next without realizing the cause. Boom!! me Windows Installation and all Important files were gone. lol. Idiot I was at that time. However, I was bold at that time to try out Ubuntu. What was the used of returning to Windows if all files and installations were gone. Go ahead with Ubuntu, this I said to me self. That was in the year of 2006.

I am considered lucky to have the wits and ability to learn something new very fast. Fast learner as all call it. PHP, VB, MySQL, Linux even Windows, I have no idea at first. All of my IT knowledge are learnt by reading and experience. Self-Taught almost all of them. You’ve got to have the willingness to learn to be successfull. Here I am today with Ubuntu as my only OS.

What makes me love Ubuntu, I can never tell. I just love it. Plus, the new Visual Effect enchants me. Hey, Windows XP and Vista can’t do what Linux can. Linux users do not have to be wary of Viruses and malwares, spywares, and trojan. Very true, Windows own the dekstop but the numbers are diminishing as the day passes. Same with the case of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Heh, I just love open source applications.

Take Care now.

The worst Ramadhan

Good Day and Assalamualaikum

Today is our 25th Day of fasting. Another 5-6 days to go before Eid Fitr approaches. We Muslims implement Lunar Calendar, thus the number of days in a month is never fixed. As the 1st of Syawal approaches, preparations for Malaysia’s Grandest Festival are taking place. I still remember 2-3 years ago people spent lavishly. Old furniture would be swiftly removed with new ones. Curtains were hoisted with various patterns and colours. To celebrate the Grand Festival, all must be grandeur as well. But, that was 2 years ago.

This year’s Ramadhan would be the worst for the life of me, economically, spiritually and religiously. Perhaps, it would be the worst for all Muslims in Malaysia. As for me, no Raya Bonus, no Balik Kampung and no fun at all. Why? Getting old or fed up with current political situations? Economically disrupted? I can never tell. I don’t know you tell me!!!

Inflation has risen to its highest since 1981 (7.8%), 8.5%. Fuel is expensive and whatnot, the political drama of various politicians. Ministers with teeny-tiny little brain. Racialism and ISA. FDI outflow exceeded inflow. These are all the beginning of the end. Economic Crisis is on its way. Waiting… somewhere in the corner before unleashing its wrath.

What went wrong? Are investors losing faith in Malaysia? Are we going to have another round of Economic Crisis? I don’t know you tell me!!!

Prices of foods nowadays are insane. Blame not them, sellers and hawkers and shopkeepers. They have to increase the price to accommodate the price increase. Fuel was the main culprit. A small amount of increment to fuel price will result in price increment of multiple products and services. What some ministers call to stop increase the prices of this and that are actually the cries of an imbecile. Change the way of life someone has said. Bollocks!! Plain Bollocks. You expect us to cycle instead of driving? You expect us to use Inefficient Public Transport? You expect us to wear sarong? You expect us to stop spending? I don’t know sir, please tell me. Which area in our lives needs some adjustment?

This is my worst Ramadhan and would be the worst Eid Fitr. Anyway, to all Muslims Happy Eid Fitr. May the Lord of the Universe bless you. (No. Not that He-Man and Master of the Universe).

Take Care

XBMC

Good Morning

It has been a while. Just got back from Sabah. Damn tired I am. Fasting, working, travelling and best of all, saved and sound. Am on leave this Monday. Hell no. Will not go to work since am too tired. And I miss Loktaramish the Rogue, me alternate life of World of Warcraft. I am happy to be able to touch my Keyboard, Mouse and the odour of this little room. I’m home again.

Long time ago, I installed XBMC onto my Xbox. Eversince, I have Xbox 360, that old good Xbox rarely gets my touch. I miss XBMC though. While browsing, I came across a post in Lifehacker about XBMC being released to all platform. Previously, it was available only through SVN, and kinda buggy. It would crash whenever I played Morcheeba. Funny, it would crash with that particular song. I donno you tell me!!!

Alas, after years of development, finally, they have released Beta Versuin and works like a charm. On my OS, the Great Ubuntu, XBMC rules. Forget Amarok, forget Elisa and forget all, XBMC is all in one application. One App to rule them all.

XBMC manages to take me away from Loktaramish for a while. Sweet~~.

What, you do not know what the hell is XBMC? Such a waste of time. Click here to learn more.

Install and get it run. You’ll never turn back.

One crazy taxi in Sabah

Good Evening and Salam Sejahtera.

Arrived at Sandakan in one piece around 1.30 PM. Nice view during flight. I saw the peak of Mount Kinabalu on my way there. No picture was taken as I did not have any DigiCam. Hand-phone is prohibited in any aircraft during flight. Pictures are not possible. Nevertheless, the fantastic view is mine to keep.

On my way to Hotel Sandakan (it is Friday and the person who is supposed to fetch me is having his business in the Mosque). Well no worries, I can be on my own. My next best option is the cab. RM22 was paid (coupon system) to get my ass to Hotel Sandakan, the best place in town, access to food, entertainment and all my daily needs is easy.

Let us start with my story, the Crazy Taxi of Sandakan. He is quite old and short. He talks a lot and curses all the time. I care not about that, as I am of his type too. The road in Sandakan is quite funny, closure and detour are normal here. So he took the one which was going in the right direction, yesterday. Yep, it was like that yesterday. But today, the road has turned into 2 lanes instead of one. Instead of using the road in the right direction, he insisted on using that road.

This would be the end of me. I asked him to turn around and use the other road on our left, which is separated by a large drain. It is not that hard, just make one big u-turn. He did not listen. He kept driving as if nothing wrong had happened. Oh, God. Burn me not in hell for being a big sinner as the lorry came toward us. Yes, one big lorry with a full load of timber. Hahaha. Please u-turn and use the right road, I begged him. He simply said, “I have opened the light. Don’t worry”. Fuct, deep in my heart I said. And the lorry avoids us. Phew!! I live another day.

I saw one big roundabout in front, finally, the taxi re-enters the road in the right direction. I kept quiet after that. Never to utter any words and leave the cab without saying thanks as I enter the hotel. I live today and shall remember this day as a hint from me God the Almighty.

How crazy is that? If anything happens to me, OUM would lose the best Librarian in town. Har Har Har. That’s merely a joke for motivating me. Seriously, if the lorry ran into us, today would be the last day of my life. Thanks, for giving me another chance.

Take Care

[VG] Guitar Hero: Aerosmith

What can I say. Me friend bought this game as substitution of Halo 3 as promised. The justification is simple, Halo 3, single player (which means, me only. lol), this game n the other hand, all can play. Ahh. Nevermind, he has been talking about this since Feb 2008. Only to become reality this month of Ramadan. At least the promise has been fulfilled. He is no more Mr. Poyol. har har har.

Okey, on with the game review. I really thought this Editon will be the same like Guitar Hero 3. It is not. Lessened difficulty, short career and not so many contents. First timer can beat the medium level without much difficulty, easy as ABC. I was quite disappointed to realize, the sugar-coated songs by Aerosmith were not present. Amazing, Crazy and I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing are not included.

I believe GH3 is better. But to Aerosmith Fan, this is a must buy. You, Mr. Ketua, should have bought GH3 rather than this. That’s why you need to ask people who know. sigh….

Out of 5 stars I can give this game 3 out 5.

Sabah Ahoy!

Salam Sejahtera dan Good Morning serta Assalamualaikum.

It has been a while since my last post. Oh. Not that long, only 3 days without post. Well, what can I say, am a very busy man. Very busy with my life, my social life (do I have one? lol) and of course, the life that I enjoy the most, The World of Warcraft.

Tomorrow I will be going to Sabah to conduct ISW (Woes to you that do not understand this acronym, ISW stands for Information Skills Workshop) class for the new students. Well basically, we have to provide current awareness to these students. The art of searching information and The art of developing Keywords. Searching through google is not the way. Information from google are not valid for research paper. It may ruin your paper.

There is nothing wrong with google actually, but the information from it. The authoritativeness, accuracy, timeliness and reliability are the most common disputes for them. To Sabah I will go, to Sandakan and KK, teach them all I know. May the spirits guide me.

Take Care

Kalau saya berasa tidak selamat

Sejahtera Semua,

Baru-baru ini kecoh dengan kisah orang kena tahan atas nama ISA. Yang baut lagi kecoh adalah sebab penahanan tersebut. Mereka ditahan kerana untuk menjaga keselamatan mereka, yang kononnya terancam. Haha. Makna kata sekiranya sesiapa yang rasa dirinya terancam bulehle minta perlindungan di bawah ISA. 2 tahun beb makan free dan tempat tinggal free.

Dan di sebalik kisah penahanan orang-orang itu itu atas nama ISA, ada dua kumpulan Islam yang menyokong tindakan kerajaan itu. PPIM dan Pewaris menyokong tindakan itu kerana berpendapat ianya wajar kerana mencerca agama Islam dari segi Azan. Mereka menuduh si Theresa Kok minta perlahankan suara Azan. Apa ini? gila apa, yang dikecohkan ialah penggunaan pembesar suara sewaktu kuliah subuh dan maghrib. Tak pula disebutkan tentang Azan. Inilah yang dikatakan semberono. Bodoh punya pertubuhan.

Kalau berbicara tanpa ilmu agama itulah yang akan jadi. Kalau berbicara tanpa usul periksa tentang alkisahnya, maka topik juga akan lari. Mari kita lihat apa Mufti Perlis kata (Mufti! bukan saya!!!)

Kata Dr Asri, isu agama turut membabitkan sensitiviti agama lain. Tapi dari segi mempersoalkan identiti Islam seperti laungan azan, itu tidak boleh.

“Namun jika ada sungutan tentang bacaan-bacaan yang panjang sehingga menganggu orang awam, ulamak Islam juga tidak benarkan. Bacaan yang kuat tanpa keperluan atau kuliah agama dengan menggunakan pembesar suara sehingga menganggu ketenteraman awam, itu tidak perlu. Itu sudah diputuskan oleh ulamak-ulamak dari dulu lagi.

“Agama itu terhad. Azan itu azan. Begitu juga kuliah agama untuk diperdengarkan di pembesar suara, berpada untuk sidang yang mendengar sahaja,” jelasnya.

Jelas kelihatan, azan memang tidak boleh dipersoalkan. Perkara tentang Azan ini sudah dimaklumkan bahawa tiada penentangan atau rungutan mengenainya daripada penduduk Kinrara Seksyen 5. Apa yang mereka minta adalah memperlahankan sedikit Volume Pembesar Suara sewaktu Majlis Kuliah.

Cuba kalau kita minta Kuil Hindu jangan bunyi loceng, pastila mereka marah. Seperti itu juga sensitiviti orang-orang bukan Islam disana. Yang diminta lain, yang jadi cerita panas lain. Mereka semua maklum kalau meminta untuk memperlahankan Azan maka jawabnya adalah “Yuck Fou!!”. Mereka tidak kisah pun tentang Azan 5 minit itu.

Inilah yang dikatakan mempolitikkan sesuatu untuk mencari sokongan. Namun ianya tidak menjadi. Kerana, rakyat Malaysia sudah pandai mengira. Dahulu kala mungkin ABC pun tak tahu. Namun sekarang, jangan kata ABC, Twinkle2 Little Star pun kitorang tahu apa!!

Pikirlah Sendiri, korang nak dengar kata Mufti Perlis atau Orang Bodoh

Chinese are Immigrants???

Greetings and Salam Sejahtera

This is my 2nd day of Puasa (Fasting). Over the years, this would be my last year as orang bujang. :). Must get married before 30. Okay on with the post.

I read a blog which says :

Bukit Bendera UMNO Chief : Sir Ahmad Ismail had called the Chinese as Immigrants. Being immigrants, it was impossible to have equal rights with the Bumiputras.

Eh! No! Not the bumiputras, the Malays. Hmmm. I have never seen the Ibans, Badayuh and Melanau scream to defend their birthrights. Only the Malays would stand and hoist Kris and scream while defending the Special Rights. What special rights? I do not know!

Such is the stupidity of a Datuk. Knowingly the current political situations, one bad move will result into great political disaster. How could you call those Chinese Immigrants. It was their forefathers, grandfathers and grandmothers who were immigrants. They were born before this Land was given a name. Those who are born in Malaysia, after Merdeka are no more immigrants. Malaysians they are. I don’t think the Chinese are racist towards us. It is us who is being racist.

People are getting smarter, Orang Kampung have access to Internet as well. They are smart now. And they speak with facts.

Continue being racist or work together for the greater good?

Choose your destiny!!!

Tema Hari Kebangsaan Ke-51

Sejahtera dan Selamat Maju Jaya

Sememangnya, apabila kita menghampiri 31-Ogos, saya akan menjadi lebih patriotik dari biasa. Tidak ada orang yang lebih patriotik di sekeliling saya. Saya adalah anak Malaysia. Seperti yang sudah diketahui umum, tema kita pada kali ini adalah Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan. Maka dengan itu hendaklah kita sebagai Anak-Anak Malaysia Bangun Bersama tanpa mengira Bangsa dan Agama. Lupakan orang-orang tua yang racis2 itu. Mereka semua akan mati tak lama lagi!!! Kita sebagai golongan mude, hendaklah bersatu sebagai sebuah bangsa yang berjaya.

Selalunya, setiap tahun pasti ada lagu Tema yang cukup bersemangat dan penuh dengan nilai patriotik. Dan seperti macam takde orang lain yg menulis liriknya. Seperti biasa Pak Ngah dgn lagunya yang baru:

Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan

Kini Semangat Jalan Seiring
Satu Amanah Kerjasama
Jadi Teras Bangsa Mulia
Sehati Sejiwa

Bangun Membantu Agar Sepakat
Moga Terserlah Perpaduan
Agar Teguh Dipersada
Dalam Hidup Harmoni

Sirami Rasa Kasih Sayang
Jadi Benteng Hidup Yang Harmoni
Nurani Ikhlas
Dihati Murni
Menjadi Kekuatan Kita

Bersatu…….Bersatu
Bersatu Gagah Bercerai Rebah
Hindarkan Hasrat Sengketa Kita
Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan

Berpadu……Berpadu
Berpadu Bulat Kata Sepakat
Menjadi Cita Negara Jaya
Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan
Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan
Perpaduan Teras Kejayaan

Kemana arahtuju bangsaku…?

Salam Sejahtera dan Selamat Maju Jaya.

Hari ini merupakan hari yang gemilang untuk Anuar Ibrahim. Setelah 10 tahun terkeluar dari Parlimen, hari ini beliau kembali. Dalam masa 3 hari, kita semua akan menyambut Hari Kebangsaan yg ke-51. Dalam tak sedar rupanya sudah setengah abad Malaysia merdeka. Pelbagai insiden-insiden dan situasi sudah berlaku di negara kita, Malaysia Tercinta. Ekonomi berkembang dahulunya tetapi sekarang ianya berada di dalam keadaan yang stagnant. Apakah puncanya, tiada saya ketahui. Namun apa yang pasti, wang kita saban hari makin mengecil.

Dalam masa 51 tahun kita merdeka, bangsaku, Melayu masih lagi terpingga-pingga mengharapkan bantuan kerajaan. Masih lagi mahu mengekalkan Hak-Hak Istemewa Kaum Bumiputra. Hak apa saya pun kurang tahu. Diskaun 5% beli rumah? Kuota didalam sektor kerajaan? Hak melanjutkan pelajaran? Hak Ekonomi? Entah pun tidak tahu.

Sudah hampir setengah abad kita merdeka, bangsaku masih lagi terpinggir kerana tidak tahu apa itu usaha. Benar. Bukan semua orang Melayu yang bengong-bengong. Namun hampir kebanyakan bangsaku sudah tidak kenal apa itu Usaha Tangga Kejayaan.

Bila dikhabarkan tentang orang Melayu sudah berjaya capai target 30% DEB. Adapula yang mengamuk minta orang itu tarik balik hasil researchnya. Apakah tidak bangsaku berasa bangga apabila berjaya capai target 30% itu? Kenapa perlu tekejut dan melatah sambil sanggup berkata bahawa itu adalah isu sensitif. Sensitif celah mana?

Selagi wujudnya Hak Istemewa Orang Melayu selagi itulah Sumpahan Orang Melayu akan kekal. Tidak akan Hilang Melayu di Dunia. Benar. Namun apakah maknanya sekiranya anak bangsaku hanyalah golongan kelas busuk di negaranya. Ianya pasti akan berlaku sekiranya tidak ada apa-apa perubahan yang akan dilakukan. Sumpahan Bangsa Melayu akan terus menjadi-jadi sehingga segalanya sudah tidak bermakna lagi.

Pada waktu itu, mungkin saya sudah mati, Tun Mahathir pun orang kenal dalam buku sahaja. Bangsaku adalah kelas paling bawah di negaranya sendiri. Apabila ini berlaku, siapa yang perlu dipersalahkan? Mahathir? UMNO? BN? Anuar Ibrahim?. Tidak, tidak seorang pun dari mereka yang bersalah. Yang salah adalah Bangsa Melayu itu sendiri! Masih leka dan tidak sedar akan perubahan yang harus dilakukan. Masih lagi terkejar-kejar Hak Bangsa Melayu yg sebenarnya merupakan Opium yang membunuh di dalam diam.

Bangsa-bangsa lain makin kehadapan dan MARA. Namun kita orang Melayu masih berada di takuk lama. Mempertahankan hak yang sememangnya merusakkan dan melalaikan. Apekah hak2 istemewa ini? Cukuplah sekadar melindungi Sultan-Sultan dan Raja serta Yam Tuan Besar selaku simbol kebesaran orang Melayu. Cukuplah dengan pengiktirafan Bahasa Melayu dan Agama Islam sebagai Bahasa dan Agama Rasmi. Itupun sebenarnya atas kertas sahaja. Pelaksanaannya tiadalah berlaku dengan baik.

Fikirkanlah. Maju atau Mundur.