Archive for Blogging

Read this.

I am beginning to be afraid of reading the newspapers, you never know what other threats against the freedom of the internet they might come up with next.

I apologise for using this site to post this, but I have the following item for sale:

AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED

It’s an SLR lense for the Nikon F-mount, naturally. It’s a DX lense so I don’t think it can be used with film SLRs. This is the new kit lense that comes with the Nikon D80 kit. About a month old, got it with my Nikon D80 kit.

Use the contact form if you’re interested!

I’ve just upgraded to Wordpress 2.0.4 the moment it came out a few days ago, and apparently this new release brings on a host of commenting related problems. Have any of you had problems writing comments but it doesn’t show up? Please do let me know using the contact form. I want to see whether this affects everyone or just a few accounts. Please state your username.

This is unrelated to cars, but is important for the future of any online media here in Malaysia, such as this site you are reading now. The government is going to study if the 1984 Printing Presses and Publications Act should be amended to include electronic and Internet media. These new forms of media were not around when the act was formulated, and some have accused it of having double standards, or outdated. The act also requires media to obtain a license that must be renewed annually.

Although the act being studied does not mean it is going to be change, this brings the freedom of the internet as a medium here in Malaysia under threat. Think not just of the potential of censoring online media as how the press has been censored, but think of potential discouragement for foreign investments here.

Click here, here, and here for more details.

If you want to comment, do talk about whether you think online media or the internet should be subject to the Printing and Presses Act. Please do not mindlessly bash the government for this post’s discussion. I intend to keep this site running as long as possible and I’ve heard the ISA lock-up doesn’t have much internet facilities.

The datacenter which hosts my web server (TMNet Netmyne) has been having problems serving Streamyx users since midnight last night. Apologies to Streamyx users who are finding it hard to access this page, as evident from today’s visitor statistics.

How ironic that a TMNet datacenter has connectivity problems with their own ASDL customers (TMNet Streamyx). I have to resort to posting this announcement from Maxis GPRS.

UPDATE: At first I was using Maxis GPRS as an alternative to reach my server, but it seems right now Streamyx itself is down in the area I live, Cheras. I have a few posts lined up, but since I do not have an unlimited GPRS package it would cost me a bomb to upload the photos associated with the posts. So let me apologise first for the short hiatus on updates while I wait for TMNet to get their sorry act together.

Related Posts:
Streamyx is pointless

I did some thinking on any enhancements I could do to this blog. I’ve noticed alot of people manually quoting each other during discussion.

A forum would solve that. Do you prefer discussing blog posts in a forum, or in this blog comments? If I moved discussion to a forum, every blog post would have a link to a thread in a forum and you guys could discuss it there. But having the discussion posts on the same page as the post like it is currently would be more convenient, and everyone is used to it.

What do you think? Also, what other features would you like to see added to this site?

Sorry for the lack of blog updates. TMNet Streamyx has been practically unusable for the past week or so.

I’m wondering, is the Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik going to ask us to “change our lifestyle” and depend less on internet access, just like we were told when we complained about high fuel prices?

Never have I seen such widespread performance degradation before. Connections to servers that have local peering like racks in Netmyne and Jaring are also affected. So it couldn’t be an issue of international link. Submarine cable snapped again? Aliens kidnapped the DSLAM switches? Pet goat ate your router?

And you keep is in the dark about what the problem is. All I see on your announcement page is news about some e-mail server maintenance. Who in their right mind would trust their important e-mails to your dodgy servers anyway?

Are you pretending there is no problem and hoping we’ll all get used to this and stop complaining and everything will be alright again? Have you re-allocated funds for infrastructure upgrades into overseas investments and buying new Mercedes Benz E240 sedans now that they are RM40,000 cheaper?

This is just too darn ridiculous. Buck up you GLCs. How are you supposed to achieve your Key Performance Indicators? I do not want to “change my lifestyle” and go back to dial-up.

Related:
Bloggers pissed with Streamyx

I would like to pose a question to any of you who purchased a car recently. The government is unhappy that car prices have not been reduced much, only in the tune of 2-5% or at most 5-10%.

If you purchased a Toyota Camry (used as an example) last year, and Toyota cuts the price of the Toyota Camry by 15-20%, how would you feel? Would your car’s value drop in the second hand market? And if yes, would you be angry? Would your brand loyalty to Toyota be affected if Toyota was the only one who gave a big price cut for their cars? Would your brand loyalty to Toyota be affected if all car manufacturers did similiar price cuts? Or would you be okay with it, considering it is an effect of the National Automotive Policy?

There are no right or wrong answers. It’s a matter of your own opinion, and I hope everyone will agree to disagree in case differences of opinions occur in the discussion. Also feel free to give your thoughts on what you think of the NAP in general, and the after-effects so far. The prices of cars in Malaysia is truly a complicated thing. Such a delicate balance must be kept.

I’d like to bring to public attention an encounter a friend of mine had with the JPJ Padang Jawa. I’m sure it would be relevant to most of you, as being motorists you deal with the JPJ all the time in regards to your car road tax.

He was given a run-around by the JPJ staff, and when he wanted to bring up a complaint to the director, he was greeted with unnecessary hostility. This is why I hate dealing with the government for anything. Technically we pay their salary, but we get treated like dirt more often than not.

Please have a look at this: http://www.rkaru.com/?p=69

Companies are taking blogs seriously as a communication medium. GM has it’s Fast Lane blog. If you love Formula 1 and especially if you are a fan of the Renault F1 team, do check out Renault’s F1 Team weblog.

It has information on the team’s progress as well as stuff like chat interviews with key team members, complete with photos in a nice weblog format. BTW, congrats to Renault for taking the top two spots on the podium. I suppose the Lion Dance the night before helped bring luck. Some of you might know what I mean.

Am still recuperating from an awesome Renault F1 Pit Party. Anyone went?