System Installation @ Menara IMC II

Today is the second day where we're going to terminate all the cables, make sure the door relay controls are OK and program the PABX. And we're ahead of schedule by one day. Woo-hoo! So, tomorrow, is the hand-over, which I hope nothing goes wrong.

The workers went for their dinner and the whole office is empty...


Save for one poor fella who has to keep an eye on things


I love these panels (fore) which gives you the powerpoints, network and voice
If you don't want to use it, you can close it by rolling it over (back)


Some last minute cabling.......


Most of the floors and walls were covered with steel plates
I am not sure as to why.........


But the LAN cables they're using are CAT 6 specification


This device makes sure everyone keeps to their schedule or their fingers gets it. Ha ha ha ha
This is supposedly my 1000th picture (I could be wrong)


Out PABX is up at last, just minor cleaning up tomorrow

Fat Guy on a bike II

I do not know why I like to take photos like these............


If he turns around, I am going to be in deep trouble

The new route to Kepong

OK, its not a new route but they have replaced the wonderful curve with a small molehill this morning


Unfortunately, if you're going to KL, you cannot have fun

Driving and Shooting II

After visiting my customer, I decided to stop for lunch in Sungei Buloh. Since I have never seen a local Army riding a kapcai with full backpack, I decided to follow the fellow. And I can tell you this, it is not easy to take photos while negotiating a corner. Its dangerous too.

Almost there...........


Missed!


Drat! I forgot to adjust my zoom!

On the way to Sungei Buloh

I was on the way to my customet in Sungai Buloh and we got stuck in a heavy jam. This is a typical situation in an accident where everyone stops to look and since it happened on an overhead bridge, everyone had to squeeze into one lane.

Here we go, squeeeeze!!


The guy is smiling because of the business


This is another accident but this time, no one cared

The Mini Perodua Kelisa

I just had to take this picture. After our exit from Mid-Valley, I asked my dad to park by the roadside while I went back in. The owner of this Perodua Kelisa had modified it to look like the Classic Mini Cooper.

Stupid Power Trip

It happened at about 0148 in the morning and the whole neighborhood was in darkness. Not thingking anything much about, I dedcided to go to sleep since the whole house was already cool with the raining still going on.

But throughout the night, the rain slowed to a drizzle and we all became hot. I was drifting in and out of sleep as Kristine was tossing and turning as she was becoming uncomfortable. Then when she woke up crying, I had to do something.

When I drew back the curtains, most of our neighbors had lights. So, this prompted me to check on the fusebox. Now, I am awake and can't sleep. Cheh.

[Update: 10.12.2005]
It was our 30-odd year old Carrier air-con which was giving problems. So, its time to change it. That also show how reliable Carrier is.

Astro's new decoder card?

I came across this funny looking card for the Astro decoder in one of the places which I have been but forgotten where it was. Know that a normal card does not look like this, thoughts of "The Cable Guy" came across my mind.

All I know is that this card will enable the user to watch other channels for free

I'd like to think it is what it is but chances are, its not


And PCB is so thin too
I'll bet the user has a lot of "extra" channels

Changing face of Pasar Road

I was there last week (and if I had the time, I would like to be there every week) and noticed that the Cinema, one of the landmarks of Pasar Road, has been torn down and a new buiding rose in its place.

I always liked to go there for one reason only: Electronic Components. Most of my projects and repairs come from shops there and to me, its heaven. However, not all components or things are worth buying and you must know your stuff.

What it will be, I am not sure


Somehow, I think it will be a single story building


The building was build as if to cater for a lot of small shops


The beggar had his hair cut and also decided to dry his herbs on the newly laid concrete walkway

The Little Angel

After our dinner, my Dad pointed out that the stage at Mid-Valley's Middle Court beautifully decorated and it would be nice to take some photos. For the past two years, Mid-Valley did have nice decorations for each Festival. This time, the setting was for Christmas. Unfortunately, I plainly forgot to take photos of Kristine in the Hari Raya decoration. You can imagine her sitting there, on the big swing............

Anyway, as the last event was completed for the night, a lot of people were rushing onto the stage (making all the "white snow" becoming grey). Some even took self portraits on their mobile phones (and a girl with armpit hairs are not a lovely sight) but mostly, it was families with kids.

Dad held her up after I spotted the feathers on the posts


I would like hang a rope on her for a better effect but there were too many people around and some might even report me to Child Abuse agencies......


Ye Gods! I haven't shaved for days!!!

The Butter Chicken Clalypot Rice

After my disppointment for not being able to attend the Gamecon-1, we settled down for dinner at the Oasis Food Court. Maybe its because I have been to the upper Food Court with the roof ceiling, the Oasis seemed too claustrophobic sometimes. And the lighting somehow looks quite dim too. Anyway, because of the long queue at the "Ikan Bakar" stall, I opted for the claypot rice again, which, as usual, did not have much customers.

I always have problems with Food Courts. This is because there are so much stalls, I cannot decide on what to eat and I usually ended up making a round or two before settling on something boring.

After taking my orders, he plonked my rice on the fire and continued his task...


Which is to remove the soot stuck in the rings of the gas burners.


Voila! A "delicious" Butter Chicken Claypot Rice

Gamecon-1 Mid-Valley

The Gamecon-1 is held at Mid-Valley's MVEC (Mid-Valley Exhibition Centre) for the 3-4th December weekend 2005. It is a convention where games, comics and every naughty little things I was interested in, was being held there.

And also, they had a space reserved for Malaysia's Star Trek fans too. Some even came all the way from Sabah and I was hoping to meet up with all of them too.

Unfortunately, my plan to get there at two in the afternoon ended in tatters and I only arrived at nine-ish at night, an hour before the convention closes. This was due to the fact that Kristine was taking her afternoon nap, I had to mop the floors and then we had to wait for her to finish her dinner when she woke up

I know, I could have a lot of fun there but sometimes, its not that easy when you have committments. Rats

The entrance looked a bit empty


I was just in time to miss something


Some had already left and the booth on the left had a RM150 Star Trek Enterprise NX-01
which I wanted to get. But if I went to the ATM four floors down and came back up, they would have closed shop already


This guy makes sure you pay RM5.00 (last evening reduced price already) before he lets you in

My Fantasy Project - The PADD

First and foremost, after I got married and we got a little monster, (And I am not complaining) most of my projects got as far as the daydreaming stage. And thats it. So, this time, I wanted to make something that I can hold in my hands. Ok, before I got married, most projects went as far as 20% completion before being shelved to somewhere where the Sun didn't even bother to shine.

I wanted to make this for a long time now but never did have the time nor money, let along the technology. That is the problem with Malaysia. The solution you wanted is either there (and too expensive) or not there (reserved for industrial use or manufacturing). And it takes time to search for them too. Not everyone have a website nor advertise in the local papers or even in the Yellow Pages. Most of the time, I have to find the RIGHT person who knows where to get it.

What am I making? This is a PADD (Personal Access Display Device), something like a very advanced PDA as used throughout the Star Trek Universe.

Anyway, this is a very simple project (yeah, right) which involves making a few pieces of acrylic and glueing it, then print a nice sticker for the screen and buttons, get the right paints and you're done.

My dismal failure with drills, saws and sandpaper three years ago
Which ended with a lot of broken things

After a stupid setback a few years ago, I decided to try this again, but with a CAD software. All you need to do is to find a clear picture of the darn thing and then trace it on the screen or software equivalent. Its tough and can make you go bonkers but after hours of this, you don't even care if you're alive or not. Anyway, the rough dimensions of the PADD is about 100mm by 155mm with 11mm thick.But then again, I could be wrong.

The front plate


The first middle plate


The second middle plate


The back plate


All four plates sandwiched together


Add a bit of colours


Well, the render engine is not so sophisticated but its good enough
The big square button has been replace with a 5mm hole in the final design

The design actually calls for a static piece but I wanted to put something extra in the near future:

1. My original idea is for a lighted screen so I can design the screen myself. Actually, I wanted this to be a lighted photo frame.

2. Maybe add in some touch-switches and a sound module so when I touch the screen or buttons, the thing would make some sound. But the tools for doing this is not exactly cheap (R&D cost would set me back about RM1500)

3. A small microprocessor which allows the user to switch it on and produce random sounds when various buttons are touched. (R&D extimated to be RM1000)

4. A rechageable battery (where you charge it like a normal mobile phone and no fancy wancy induction stuff)


And how is the planning going? I have called up two suppliers who does laser cutting on the acrylics. And with the prices they quoted me, I could talk in expletives the whole day.......... And I haven't even started on the cost of making the screen yet. So, everything could be about RM3500 (which buys a LOT of baby Pampers and powdered Formula Milk)

I could be better off buying a ready-made ultra accurate kit which sells for USD20 instead and complete my project faster. Or, I could get the actual working one which is much more closer to my ideals for RM1000. Ha ha ha.

Let's see what this coming week's quotation brings. If its too much trouble, I think I am going to save my lunch money again instead :)


If you'd like to have an ultra accurate PADD kit, you can contact Matthew Munson at matthewmunson_@_yahoo.com (You need to remove the "_" from the E-Mail first as these spam bots are nasty). And, if you like to have THE ULTIMATE PADD that has lights and sound, you can give Gerhard Mros a call at gmros@cogeco.ca and you will not be disappointed.

I nearly died (or today is a bad day)

Yeah, today was a shitty day. All those unexpected crap turned up and smacked me in the face.

1) I got overtaken by a lot of cars and even a small motorbike
Today was a really hot day and because of that, my car was quite sluggish. So, I decided not to press on the gas anymore as this would waste more money.

2) I really got a Police Summons
This was because there was a 4x4 which tried to overtake a car on the right. So I swerved to avoid and ended up on a road which I am not supposed to go to. Yep, and the Police were waiting round the corner.

3) I challenged the Cops to give me another summons
While he was writing down my particulars, I tried to make a phone call in the car and he assumed I wanted to take his picture. I told him I was not because I wanted to make a call that I will be slightly delayed. So he called his colleague and told him I wanted to take his picture. His colleague came over and said something rude and also added that I could have another summons due to the large boxes in my car (yeah, the company still did not get a van yet). I was pissed off and told him to give me another summons, then. Seeing I was already pissed off and wanted to get out of the car, he just game me the first summons and let me go.

Needless to say, I was late for the appointment and the customer has already closed his office by four.

4) I nearly got reverse rammed into a pillar (and died)
It was a stupid mistake because while shopping at Makro, when we were about to go home, since I got the car keys, I opened the doors and put it in the ingnition. Since I did not know the cobination to the steering lock, I left it there and told my Dad, "The key's in there".I went to the back to the car to get to the other side and noticed the reverse lights were on. Thinking it was just a short, I neved paid heed. Suddenly the Volvo reversed and I banged on the boot to alert my Dad but it was no use. Luckily for me, my feet were already in motion, moving my fat ass away from the car. If not, I would be knocked down and straight onto the piller where I would be "crepe de fatso"

I knew what happened. Someone put the gears in reverse when we parked the car. And while the steering lock was still in position, the brakes cannot be used. In the end, the Volvo's bumper got dented instead

5) Kristine gave me a wedgie
And dug my belly button, slapped my ribs and also pulled my hair while I tried to get her to sleep.

Do not love your pussy too much

While waiting for the water (or whatever's left in the tank) to heat up, I was so shocked, and if my bowels reacted the same way, I would be the first guy to shoot through the roof with bio-power. There are times that when you like the cat too much, it will start to assume that the house belongs to it. It will also start to assume that you like her too much.

As a result, there is a dead rat in the toilet!!!!

Already the ants are coming


And this is a brainless rat (or was it deaf?) andone ant decides to investigate (near the top)

The irony of it

There was a heavy thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon. There was so much water and the traffic jam was horrendous. I took me about an hour to get to Sri Hartamas from Jalan Sultan Ismail (near Hard Rock Cafe). For the rest of the evening and until this morning, it was very cold. And then, there is no water in the house!

And I was about to take a nice hot shower (since I forgot to take my bath last night)

This stupid airport van blocked my view when I wasnted to take a photo of the motorcyclist preparing for the heavy rain (background). There was so much space on his lane be he decided to stay there. Only when the lights went green, did he move. Yeah, I got a bad picture instead.


At first, I thought that is an ideal parking spot until.....


I looked closer and realised that .....


The water is very deep

Kristine's Moustache

Its one of those unexpected moments where Krisitne did something funny but cute. It was raining the whole day and therefore, quite cold. Kristine coughed a bit but for the first time, she actually wanted a bath! So, we gave her one but with a warmer temperature. Kristine was so impatient that she crawled into the bathroom while I was getting the water ready. After her bath, (she did not cry during shampoo nor try to climb out), I made some bubbles for her and also, this is also the time where she tries to drink the bath water. See what happened next...............

Tonight is a little cold but I want my bath!


Hmmm! The water is a little hot


But its comfortable!


After the bath, Daddy made some bubbles


Are the bubbles good? I am going to test it now....


How is that?


Nice goatee, hor?


Hee hee he he he!

Pigheadedness

Just now, my friend called me and asked me about my opinion of the Panda Antivirus. She has finally bought the (crap) Laptop from her friend and her copy of Norton tells her that it has detected some virus/worm which it cannot delete. So, she me asked if the RM120 Panda can do the job.

So I told her, I got Panda last time from a so-called friend and it has problems with the serial number given to me. (Rather than help solve the problem, he proved to me that it was not his problem and has notified Panda Software.) So, it was a bad experience.

And after much (time wasting) discussion, she assumed I hated Pandan because of that bad experience. And I told her that I cannot reccommend something to her which I have not tried it yet, so I asked around and got a few not so nice answers in return.

Anyway, I pointed her to Grisoft which has the free edition of AVG, their antivirus software. And then she asked me if this software can remove the virus or not. If not, she would gladly pay the RM120 from the computer vendor located below her office. So I told her, since its free, why not give it a try and if it does not work out, then get Panda. And I have dealt with the vendor before and again, I did not have any good experience when it comes to returning goods. Then she countered me with saying that of course everyone who sells you stuff would be able to help since it is their responsibilities. And I told her, she assumed too much.

Then the next thing I knew, she bombarded me with questions such as:

"How long would it download?", if you're using dial-up, it would be about 20 minutes or so, I told her
"What! How can! I cannot waste time like this! I go to the office and work! I have no time for this and the time can be used to make money!"

WTF!

"I am computer illiterate and I prefer convenience!"

WTF!

Indirectly, this is where she is trying to fish me to go over to her and help solve all her computer related angst. Before I was married, this would not be a problem to me. But now, I cannot commit to such because from past experience, there is always a follow up and they would keep on calling even for the most tiniest bit of problem. So I told her, there are things one must do things by themselves.

"No, no! I told you I am illiterate! You are different! All day you work with computers and this is easy foe you"

WTF!

At this stage, I am already very pissed off (again), so I cooly told her to go try AVG first. And she kept on about having to go to her office and download, which she has no time for, etc. And there is no Internet in her house, etc.

And I hate to say this but I am now starting to side with her ex-husband on why he wanted to go ahead with the divorce. And if you're so adamant about your decision, do not waste other people's time asking about their opinions which differes from yours.

Yeah, she changed a lot. Maybe its because of her two children. Then again, maybe this is how she is.

Lazy Cable Contractors

I was quite pissed today because we're falling behind schedule. There are so many customers more to visit and I need to clear them in time for tomorrow's next PABX installation. Unfortunately, right smack in the afternoon, there was a call from an unscheduled customer stating that they are experiencing a system down. So, we had to stop with what we're doing and rush over (which is great for a 15 minutes response time).

But the one which really turn me into a monster was the customer (He who shall not be named) in Puchong. Last week, when we're installing the PABX (The Brand which shall not be named), the guy told us that Terrokom has cut their cables short when they temporarily connected the phones for them to use. So, its not a problem, I told him. Just get the cable guy to patch it and make it longer and we will return when its done. (Because the System is so cheap, we're not going to waste money and time for this)

Fast forward to this afternoon. When we arrived, the cable guys were there, sitting and waiting for us. They offered their cables to us and asks us to do the patching ourselves with the excuse that they're not experts. In any sense, a cable guy worth his salt would be able to neatly lay the cable from one point back to the system, and also observe the proper cabling protocols.

Because the customer was there, I decided its wise not to scold them. Unfortunately, the cables they gave us is too thick to be inserted into those connectors and we wasted quite a lot of them. In the end, we spent two hours for a half an hour job. This means the customer we missed today will be brought forward to tomorrow and so on. Cheh!

Bird Fight

This is something which I wished I had a camera.

On the way to Sentral to pick up my Wife, I saw this amazing scene:

Two birds acting as a team, stood on top of another two birds, pinning them down so that they cannot fly away. They stood there, making loud angry noises as if they were in an argument. Even when cars passed by, they did not take heed.