Friday 24 February 2006

A handy resource to encode the "mailto" tag, so that your email address will escape being picked up by certain nefarious "bots" and compiled into some mass mailing list. It encodes in hexadecimal.

Link:
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/email/encode/

Thursday 23 February 2006


You may not believe it, but this very cute and very fairy tale-like structure is a Loji Rawatan Kumbahan (Sewage Treatment Centre) operated by Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd. Where else, but Cameron Highlands? This pic was taken from the restaurant in Hotel Rosa Passadena, at Brinchang town.  Posted by Picasa

Citrosa


A plant I bought at Cameron Highlands for RM6. The nice Malay lady at Kea Farm mentioned that it can repel "nyamuk" (mosquitoes) and so, it was only natural that I would get two (2) units for my humble abode. Of course the scientific name was never going to be "pokok halau nyamuk" (mosquito repelling plant) so upon some searching online I discovered that the plant is called "Citrosa". Posted by Picasa

However, a certain study has noted that the plant in its natural state may not in reality be so effective in chasing mosquitoes away.
What about the claims of 'Citrosa' as a mosquito fighter? Dr. G.A. Surgeoner and J. Heal at the University of Guelph in Ontario tested the effect of 'Citrosa' and lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) against the biting activity of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. They found that the whole plant of 'Citrosa' geranium DID NOT provide significant protection against mosquito bites (yet the ads state "The chemicals act to block the mosquito's sensory apparatus so that it can not detect mammals. Mosquitoes may be in the area around the plant but they can't detect you.") Crushing of 'Citrosa' leaves on the hand and wiping one's hand through the 'Citrosa' plant appeared to provide about 30-40% repellency. However, Surgeoner and Heal found that crushed lemon thyme produced 62% repellency! Compare this with commercial Deep Woods Off, which produced 90.4% reduction in biting activity.

Source: http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=OttoRichter/1993.html

Wednesday 22 February 2006


Two things we can surmise from this picture. One: The concept was greeted with great gusto. Two: The Chinese lanterns look great hanging in the middle of the road. Why don't they make it an all year round thing? (The lanterns, not the night market!) Posted by Picasa

Cars were parked on both sides of the road, making it an extremely hard squeeze. One could see that the local hawker association, however, did not take the width of the road into consideration. Which was unfortunate, because the "pasar malam" was commenced in the middle of the Chinese New Year -- understandably, a time when the majority (mostly Chinese -- TAR College) student population would be at a low. It was thus easy to say that the roads were "not so congested" and therefore the pasar malam (night market) was justifiable. One doubts that the same argument could have been used if the student population was back in full swing. It was a clever move -- introduce the night market when there was the *least* opposition, and when the opposition arose, they could use the argument, "But you weren't complaining when we started our thing?!" Clever, Wily, and Cunning. Ah, what is this world without cunning linguists? Posted by Picasa

A pasar malam that used to go on in Wangsa Maju. The night market blossomed into a huge phenomenon in early January 2006, threatening to squeeze the main artery road of Section 2 into a narrow, hard to get through, one-lane vein. Sure, the local Malay hawker association was making money, but it was at the expense of the local residents -- who would have preferred it to be at the lower portion of Section 2, i.e. the road leading from the LRT train station right up to the BRJ Mamak area. At least, a well lit road would have benefitted residents (safer with all the buzz of activities going on) and the Malay hawkers as well (can you spell "profits"?). The other thing was that the local Chinese hawker association did not join in the fun -- why? Posted by Picasa

Monday 13 February 2006

Close Shave For Gamblers

Recently, nine gentlemen caught gambling by the police during the Chinese New Year season were given a "close shave". In other words: Shaved bald. They made the press, they complained, they met the cops and they decided not to sue the cops.

Nevertheless, the origin of it is in section 9A of the Lockup Rules 1953.

"9A. Every prisoner, except a Sikh accustomed to keeping his hair long on religious grounds, shall on admission have his hair cut close."


Further reading at the Malaysian Bar website: Click Here.

Wednesday 1 February 2006

The Time Movie

A motivational video.
Just what you need after three days on the road.
Frazzled.

Link: The Time Movie

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