Wasp building its nest

Saw an interesting post and pictures uploaded by someone on a wasp building its nest...Its very closed up and detail from a nothing to a plot of nest.
Here's the link: http://cellar.org/iotd.php?threadid=14270

Comments are welcome

Coin Stacking

I could resist posting this coin stacking link on my blog. These coins are awesome. People who had done it are really good at it, and they have a lot of time in their hands. Very very cool check it out here.
http://www.fincher.org/Misc/Pennies/Sent.shtml

I have been writing my blog for some time. I would like some comment to hear some valuable comments from the readers...Would really like to make my blog more interesting. :)

Cell Phones increases the risk of getting brain tumors

In a recent study conducted in 7 countries, (USA, Finland, Sweden, Demark, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan), it shows that the risk of getting Acoustic Neuromas and Gliomas has increased for people using mobile phones for more than 10 years.

For people who are not from the medical background, here is a simplified definition of what Acoustic Neuromas are:
“Acoustic neuromas, also called schwannomas, are a non-cancerous tumor that develops on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. The tumor usually grows slowly. As it grows, it presses against the nerves responsible for hearing and balance. Radiosurgery is usually the standard treatment.” ~source Cancer Monthly Infocus

While the definition for Gliomas are:
“A glioma is a type of primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor that arises from glial cells. The most common site of involvement is the brain, but they can also affect the spinal cord or any other part of the CNS, such as the optic nerves. Gliomas can be either benign (slow growing) or malignant (fast growing).” ~source Cancer Monthly Infocus
The second type of tumor is more dangerous and life threatening compared to the first type coz an operation need to be conducted to extract this tumor and it affects the spinal cord too. Besides that, the survival rate of an individual also depends on the size of the tumor, type, location and the patient’s age and overall health.

Now a days, people will be saying but I can’t live without my handphone. How? Well, there are a few ways to cut down the radiation emitted by the phone and put some distance between the handphone and your brain..
1) Use a headphone.
2) Use phone speakers. (I think it should be ok.)

For more information, you could visit here: http://blog.cancermonthly.com/17/cell-phones-increase-the-risk-of-two-types-of-brain-tumor/

Free iTune songs for download at Starbucks

Good news for people in the United States. Hmm you may ask why??? Brand new owners or current owners of an iPhone or iPod will be able to download free songs onto their gadgets. All these songs are generously sponsored by Starbucks. In fact, Starbucks is sponsoring 50 MILLION songs for the iTune lovers. According to sources, some where in October 2007, iPod /iPhone users will be able to download songs at Starbucks only section of the Wi-Fi Music Store.

So, what are you people waiting for? Get ready your gadgets and download these babies for free. There won’t just be free songs to download, there will also be “Song Of The Day”, and gift cards.

For more cool information about this freebie, you can check out this website…http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/09/24/starbucks-to-spread-50-million-pieces-of-itunes-love

USB 3.0 coming soon

Hurray! A faster version of USB is coming. It will be called USB 3.0. I was actually thinking of upgrading my computer, and since I saw this article on http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/09/19/usb_30_coming_w.html I think I will hold my horses first. Besides that, I don’t have the money yet. Got to save up first.

The USB 3.0 cable will transfer data 10 times faster than the 2.0 version. It’s got a fiber optic cable inside it alongside with copper wiring. But one thing is confirmed, it will be transferring data at the speed of Gigabits. Ah, for people out there who are still using the older version of USB, like 2.0 and 1.0, fear not, coz this new baby will be compatible with all the older versions. *Yahoo*. It’s just that the speed of transferring the data is not fully utilized.
For people who have external drives, flash readers, video camera, the USB 3.0 will boost up the transfer rate of these peripherals to Gigabits speed. These new funky cables will start hitting the market at about 2009 or 2010.
For more information, you could visit this site too http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070918-intel-announces-demonstrates-usb-3-0.html. Very interesting technology

Firefox Car

As the Japanese like to say "Sugoi desu ne!!!!" A Firefox car posted by nobihaya san!!! Way to go. :)

You can also view it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nobihaya/1386721368/in/set-72157602015150860

Coca cola self chilling soft drinks

As the Japanese says, “Sugoi desu ne!”(It’s amazing.) It could be a dream coming true for some people. Imagine that, a soft drink that actually chills itself when you open it. This first soft drink will be unleashed by Coca Cola by early next year in UK. They are calling it the Sprite Super Chilled. This is how it will work, some of its contents will freeze and turn into ice the moment you open the bottle. Its so cool. But there is a small catch, you have to keep it at a specific temperature for it to actually work. The mechanism works by actually freezing some of the sprite into ice, it will not dilute the drink no matter how long you take to drink it. It would be instantly served to the guests ice cold and refreshing the moment they pops it open. The chemical that actually create this reaction is still unknown to the public.

This is a must see and tasted drink. For more information you could visit this website http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/17/coca-cola-readying-self-chilling-soft-drinks/.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/09/17/cokes-ko-sprite-super-chilled-bottles-ice-inside/

But then hmmm, some people said that it might lead to health problem, coz of the chemical in the drink……..

Wow, this is the first time I actually see a whole list of beautifully compiled and working software on the internet. Hmmm, wondering what am I talking about? Well, you can visit this website http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows and see for yourself what I mean. I know the frustration of googling and yahooing the internet, and yet not being able to find what you are looking for. Or sometimes that software that you found is a shareware or a trial version. Urg, then you will really feel like screaming.

Ok, calm yourself now. I will give you a list of the softwares that are listed on this website.
1) Firefox – It’s a browser. For people who would like are tired of using Internet Explorer or who want to try something new, this is a very good browser. I have heard great reviews about this browser. Try it, its not bad. J
2) Thunderbird – It’s a lightweight online email client.
3) Sunbird – A calendar tool.
4) Abiword – A word processor tool.
5) OpenOffice – A free version of Microsoft Office.
6) ClamWin – An antivirus tool. Hmm, could be worth while to try it out. I have been looking for a new and free antivirus tool to use besides AVG.
7) Gaim – A MSN, Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger tool.
8) BitTorrent – for downloading large files and peer to peer sharing tool.
9) GIMPShop – A free software just like Photoshop.
10) Gnucleus – runs just like LimeWire but no spywares. Cool
11) VLC Media Player – can run all types of files under 1 roof.
12) Juice – useful for users who have PodCasts
13) Audacity – for recording voices to PodCasts
14) RSSOwl – open source RSS reader
15) Filezilla – sounds like Mozilla. Well, as the name suggests, it’s a tool for users to FTP file to other computers.
16) Keynote – useful tool for taking down notes.
17) MusikCube – an alternative for tool instead of using iTunes.
18) Handbrake – download stuffs from DVD on to the hard drive.
19) X-Chat 2 – free IRC client.
20) KeePass – a password manager. Organizes your login ID and password in a secure manner.
21) TrueCrypt – an encryption tool.
22) PDFCreator – creates your word documents into a PDF file. A very useful tool for people who wants to create a PDF file and doesn’t know how to. This is a great tool.
23) Freemind – great tool for connecting ideas and great minds.
24) NASA Worldwind – a similar tool like Google Earth.
25) Notepad2 – an improved version of Notepad with additional useful features.
26) HealthMonitor – a tool to monitor the health of your computer.
27) Workrave – controls your work schedule. It will not let you overwork yourself, and you could enjoy yourself.
28) GanttPV – a tool similar to Microsoft Project, which is used to track projects and work schedule.
29) GnuCash – a simplified version of Microsoft Money or Quicken.
30) True Combat:Elite – a small combat game.

All these files are FREE no money needed to buy these softwares. You just need an internet connection to download these files, coz all these files are from open source. Meaning the source code is available to anyone with no hidden agenda and all updates to it are also FREE. Now that’s what I call a software worthwhile downloading and maintenance FREE.

Free Web Designs Using CSS

*Sigh* I still remember the days when I started programming and wondering how certain websites can be so beautifully and creatively done. Then usually I would start using google and yahoo to try and find some web templates that I could use. But then, usually I would come to a dead end, coz all the beautiful templates cost money, lots of money. Comparatively, the free templates are either very dull, boring, and simple, with no flare of creativity in it. Besides that, some websites promises free templates to the people surfing the web, but upon entering these websites, there are lots of popups, weird advertisements, a bunch of links leading to God knows where. Its like beating around the bush, but still getting nowhere.

But today, there is a group of very very generous people in the open designs committee who are actually willing to share their web templates for free. Most of it are beautifully done, with not only having plain HTML codes in it, but also CSS codes to make it more dynamic and professional looking. Well done. Oh ya, these templates can be downloaded at http://www.vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-simplify-design/

If you wanna create a website on your own from scratch, wanna make it original, a website that have never been created by anybody, but you don’t know how, you can check out this website. http://www.vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/resources-simplify-design/
Its pack with lots of tips to make a good website and ready made designs like colors, buttons, menu, fonts and other stuffs to enable you to have a good head start.

Scholarship For Bloggers

Scholarship For Bloggers

Wow, a scholarship of $10,000 for college bloggers. Cool, that is a very generous of collegeScholarship.org. With careful spending, you might be able to stretch the money to cover all your expenses while you are in college. Or, the money could be use to start your dream business, a small one or it could be use as a starting amount in building a profitable investment. Either way, it would really give you a boost and a head start.

The good news is, its open for US Citizens, but only US Citizens. Boy it’s a big disappointment for people all over the world. But hey, look on the bright side, if there is such a competition in the US, they will soon be such competitions all over the world. It just takes time. And besides that, bloggers out there could begin to really make their blogs more interesting, stunning and memorable for people surfing through their blogs.

For people entering this contest, they will have to write a 300 word essay about why their / your blog deserves this award (the scholarship). If you know an excellent blogger personally or whose blog it belongs to, you can also nominate them by writing a review of their blog. This will also indirectly helps the blogger to improve their blogs, know their strengths in their blogs, what are interesting and boring in their blog, and improve their writing skills. Talk about killing a few birds with one stone. More like using a boomerang to kill these birds.

For more information, you can go to:
1) http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/devlin/15767;_ylt=Au8kOyr0G_b0gU9k_mCOlEYFLZA5 (this is a short write up in yahoo)
2) http://www.collegescholarships.org/our-scholarships/blogging.htm (the sponsor of this scholarship – Here, you can get all the rules and regulations in winning the scholarship)
3) http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/10000_up_for_grabs_for_college_bloggers.php

(a write up on this scholarship and a short history of past winners of this scholarship)

Good luck to everybody!!!!

Getting A Laptop

Hmmm...just recently I had a chat with a friend. He was saying if given any brand, he would willing buy a Toshiba notebook any day with a budget at about RM5K. I wouldn't be so fast as to put my money blindly in a Toshiba notebook. I would prefer to scout out the notebook market first before buying one. One of the great place to actually scout the specifications of a notebook would be at the PC Fair. It's organized by PIKOM, and usually being held about 2-3 times a year, all over Malaysia.

There, you could get all the flyers about all kinds of notebook, check out the notebook on demo, poke around it...erm, i mean play around with it first before you actually buy that equipment. Besides that, there are a few advantages being at the fair, firstly would be, all the computer shops in like for example KL, will be flock under one roof, you could actually save petrol, parking and time. Wow, that's a lot of stuffs to save on.

More over, some of the booths that are on exihibit from other parts of KL, that you will never go to might actually offer good services and quality goods. Now that's a bargain. Its like going to a mega sale, the only difference is its selling computer goods. Besides checking out the types of notebooks on offer, there are additional gifts to be redeem when you buy a notebook in a fair. The other plus thing in checking out laptops in a fair, is you won't feel uncomfortable or embarrased poking at the laptops, coz there will be a lot of people there too doing the same thing.

After you have actually checked out the laptops, you can go back and review the from the flyers the potential laptops to buy. Then, based on your budget and requirements, get your laptops from these sellers.