All posts by The Artist

In The News

Maxis To Turn Private

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With this move, I wonder what is in store for the subscribers. I was a Time subscriber when Maxis took over the company. From a cheap mobile plan, I was forced to upgrade to an expensive prepaid plan. Those days, prepaid was very expensive. So I switched to Celcom. It is not that Celcom is cheap, but then I am a small user and I have no complains so far.

A friend of mine is a subscriber of both Maxis and Celcom mobile broadband packages and according to him, Celcom is faster. When he streams music through online radio stations, there is no buffering at all. He could switch from one station to another like tuning in to FM radio stations. The same could not be said for Maxis. Moreover, Celcom’s coverage is wider than Maxis. When he visited me, I used his Maxis line on his laptop and oh dear, it was worse than a 56K dial up connection.

I was just about ready to tear my hair out.

So without public funds to utilise by turning from a public listed company to a private entity, will the services of Maxis ever improve further or will it go stagnant, or worse, deteriorate. Time will tell, I guess.

Computing & Internet

Because I Was Bored…

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I thought I was the only one to turn to online videos, joke sites and other interesting sites BUT I just stumbled upon a blog by the name of Because I Was Bored… . The owner of this blog has compiled some of internet’s latest, funniest, weirdest video clips from various video sharing and humor sites to share with us, to “unbore” us, to entertain us just so we do not have to search these funnies out by ourselves.

I have already bookmarked this website and I feel that with all these interesting content on one blog, it is easier for us to surf to especially when we are bored at the office. Shhh! Don’t tell the boss, ok??

There is this video that I would not have come across otherwise, which is of a 3-year-old solving the Rubik’s cube. I have played the Rubic’s cube for years and still can’t even solve it and I don’t think I ever will because I have given up hope on myself.

But here in the video, is a 3-year-old doing it.

I also enjoyed one of the videos which is a 30-minute compilation of some of classic cartoons. This video is great and it brought out a lot of good memories for me. What a great site this is. His boredom has cheered up my days almost every day!

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General

Boot Camps For Troubled Teens

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A friend read my blog post on troubled teens and confessed that her son is getting too difficult for her and her husband to handle. She asked me if I know of a solution. Well, I am no counselor and I feel bad that I do not know her true situation because I do not have children of my own, what I can do is to only recommend to her what I know from other friends who also have difficult teenage children.

A colleague of mine was so desperate trying to right the life and behavior of her son that she sent him off to one of those Troubled Teen Boot Camps that she came across on the internet.

According to her, there are many boot camps for troubled teens and it is important to find the right one for the teenager. In her case, she selected one that specializes in behavior modification.

Her initial fear was that her son will be worse off being with people his own age and suffering from similar angst but she found out that being together and getting through the program was in fact more beneficial than she had thought.

Besides selecting the right boot camp, one also has to take into account the cost and length of stay. That’s why it is important to talk to people in the know like Boot Camps For Troubled Teens and they will recommend the best boot camp for the struggling teen.

In The News

Few Malaysians Satisfied With Their Sex Life

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I read with amusement on the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey 2007/08 report that fewer than two in five (38%) Malaysians are satisfied with their sex life.

I know Durex conducts this survey, or a variation of it annually. However, doing a survey like this, I wonder how many respondents will actually answer the questionnaire truthfully. What is the margin of error that is factored in? How accurate can a survey be when data was only collected from 26,000 respondents across 26 countries, where only 1,026 were Malaysians?

I am not sure if any of my friends participated in this survey but if they did, I know they surely will 9394 and give replies far off from the truth, maybe they are too shy to tell the truth, maybe for fun or maybe just to stand a chance of winning a prize in the lucky draw.

Perhaps Durex should take a look at how they collect their data. I would suggest giving a survey a six-month period for people to respond and only conduct a survery every three years or so. I think this will better show the trend of people’s sex lives.

News source: The Star

Finances

Why I Don’t Own A Credit Card

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I have owned a couple of credit cards previously but I have cancelled them due to the many problems I faced. However, that bad experience did not put me off credit cards for life. I am currently looking for one of the 0% credit cards where I can use the card without interest for the first six months. This is a good deal for me provided I remember when my six-month free interest period will be up!

When I had my first credit card, my card was cloned and I only found out from my bill that I have a whole list of unauthorized purchases. Somehow, the bank thought that I was the one who bought all those items. I was mad that they never called me up to verify.

I heard that there are cards offering 0% balance transfers so I switched cards.

I do not know what is wrong with me, with my name or with my credit cards. My PIN of my credit card was hacked and once again, I faced the same problem. I decided that enough is enough and I cancelled my card, AGAIN.

Hopefully, I will have better luck with my third credit card.

Blogging

Blogging Code of Conduct

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Following the recent threats that were targeted at a prominent female tech blogger, Kathy Sierra, many people have called for a b Blogging Code of Conduct. Yet, there are people who are against the very idea of a “Code of Conduct”. As with everything in life, there is a group who is FOR, another who is AGAINST.

I personally would like to know, is there a need to for a Code of Conduct to keep us bloggers in line, much like primary school children. I mean, most of the bloggers are legally adults. However, staying behind the screen, one tends to think that “anything goes”.

I would rather we have self-discipline and stay within our own space blogging our own thang, rather than be keep in line by a Code of Conduct. Don’t you think so?

For a more in depth write up on the Blogging Code of Conduct, please refer to Monsters and Critics.

Finances

The Ease Of Applying For Loans

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There used to be a time when it was a big deal to qualify for a loan but nowadays, it is so easy to apply for loans and approval is usually within minutes, without even the need for a credit check or to append any supporting documents like a pay slip to proof one has the ability to repay the loan.

I have friends who have so many credit cards and they can take out a credit card loan for each card. Naturally, they are financially not able to repay all their loans since they do not even earn that much.

There is a friend, Marc, who has such a bad credit rating and yet he needed a loan. Most financial institutions turned his application down, of course, but there was still a handful of lenders who were more than happy to approve his bad credit loan. I do not know if they are helping him or putting him in a worse financial situation.

People like Marc usually opt for an unsecured loan so that should they fail to repay their loan, their fixed assets will not be repossessed.

I did tell them to learn to consolidate debt for easier debt management but the way I see it, they are still leading a lavish lifestyle, rather than living within their means.