Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Khan Academy - You Can Learn Anything

Khan Academy | www.khanacademy.org

Online learning. For free.

I stumbled upon KA today. There's a long list of subjects that you can learn and at the same time earn badges as you progress. It is in a way gamified learning which at a level would ensure you come back to complete the course and finish something that you started.

With the mantra #YouCanLearnAnything, it really is empowering, thus giving us some sort of energy and that assurance that we really can learn about anything. For me, it is a bit of a challenge put forth and for me to find out (or surprise myself).

I got to KA through a series of links. It started from my email feed from Wait But Why which eventually brought me to their piece on Elon Musk. There's a footnote that I clicked which brought me to Elon's interview bit at KA on Youtube. I explored further to find out what KA is about from their (1m30s) introduction video and subscribed to their Youtube channel right away.

A couple of minutes later I found myself clicking the link in that video's description which brought me to their internet site. A few more minutes after that I registered and earned my first badge for having watched my first video and  right away.

first badge earned
We'll see what's next.
plenty to choose from
click for larger image
How about you?

The links:



Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Nasi Ayam

Marsya: Adam, awak dah belikan untuk saya lead 0.5 tu dekat bookshop?
Adam  : tak, saya tak beli...
Marsya: kenapa? kan saya dah bagi duit dekat awak.
Adam  : dah tak ada... saya dah beli nasi ayam...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Cow

Adam : Aunty, you're like a cow.
Aunty: Cow? Why, why do you say I'm like a cow?
Adam : Ya lah... you give Byron milk...

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Google Buzz

A nice feature I added into my Gmail this morning.
Much like twitter and facebook's status messages, but with so much more - links, photo thumbnails.
I'm learning the ropes by using it, and to discover its features as I go along.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Seri Alam Toastmasters Club


The Seri Alam Toastmasters Club is a continuity of MMHE Toastmasters Club. Established since 2005, as a company club it was open primarily to MMHE employees, while also accepting members from outside the workplace. It has gone one step further, and now it is a community club. Meaning, you can also be a member.
For the time being we are having the meetings in MMHE's office in Bandar Seri Alam (read: free venue), with the courtesy and support of MMHE.
Currently, yours truly is the Sergeant-At-Arms for the club. What is Toastmasters? Find out more about it here.


--------------------

 Club Information

Club Number
  00856876
Club Name
  Seri Alam Toastmasters Club
Club contact phone
  017 7151881
Club contact e-mail
 Meeting Information

Meeting Day
  1st & 3rd Thursday
Meeting Time
  7:00 pm
Meeting Frequency
  Twice a Month
Meeting Place 1
  MMHE Seri Alam office

  Jalan Suria 2, Bandar Seri Alam, Masai
Meeting City
  Johor Bahru
State
  Johor
Zip
  81700
Officer Terms
  Annual
Advanced
  No
Club Type
  Community Club
Is your club
  Open to all interested parties
Charter Date
  12/01/2005

Monday, September 28, 2009

Ben 10 in Malay


Ben 10 was just starting on Cartoon Network over Astro that Raya morning. I was entertaining local kids coming over our house in Plentong. Without hesitation one of them said:
“Eh, tukar Bahasa Melayu lah”.
I did not know that it’s served bilingually. It did not matter to my children, and so we were not bothered with the technology. Five minutes later I heard Ben uttering Malay words.
Splendid. We learn something new every day.


Image copyright Turner Media Innovations

Friday, August 14, 2009

Sunscreen song

Heard this song this morning on the radio. Been more than 10 years since I last hear it. Some are good advice, the rest, up to you to judge.

It’s actually a newspaper article eventually turned into a song.

Original article (now lyrics) by Mary Schmich of Chicago Tribune.

The quite interesting history of the ‘song’ is here:

=====================

Lyrics:

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

setem?

Amri is my elder brother.

Oman is my cousin’s son.



Amri: Oman, bak sini email address.
Oman: Ada tiga. Nak yang mana?
Me: Fuhh… banyak tu…
Amri: Bagi je lah yang mana2 selalu check. Bagi semua pun boleh.
Me: Oman, pernah tengok setem tak?
Oman: Setem? Apa tu?
Me & Amri: duhh…


I hope he knows what a Post Office is. But then again, kids nowadays might think that the PO is now a place for paying bills and other stuff not directly related to sending letters.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Aussie T-Shirt

My friend Noraidalin went Down Under and bought me a t-shirt.
Okay, I asked for the t-shirt. For free.
:)

And sure enough, she gave me a piece. Quite nice. Very comfortable. Unlike the usual thin, low quality type. I like the color too.

The thing that makes it special is what printed on the t-shirt.

I'm a bit of a collector, and so it's nice to have a collection of Australian slangs in one piece of cloth.

Here's the list:

  • wally
  • gone walkabout
  • chock a wobly
  • stone the crows
  • no worries
  • bloody oath
  • stunned mullet
  • crikey!
  • hows that!
  • sheilla
  • you beauty
  • bonza!!
  • down under
  • fair crack of the whip
  • turn it up
  • mug lair
  • too right
  • amberfluid
  • footy
  • flatout like a lizard drinkin
  • strewth!!
  • onya
  • yobbo
  • she'll be right
  • g'day mate!
  • fair dinkum
  • spot on
  • tinnie
  • flamin heck
I've heard a few, like the familiar "Down Under", "G'Day Mate!","spot on", "no worries" and "fair dinkum".
Totally no idea what the rest means.
Go and figure them out:
http://www.aussieslang.org/
google 'aussie slang' or 'strine' and you'll get quite a handful of hits.

Thanks for the t-shirt, Lin!
Where'll you be going after this?
;)

*updated 21 Feb 2014. thanks to Robbie and Michelle for informing me the correct link above :)

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Ferrari

Adam: "Kenapa awak tak beli Ferrari, Mak?"
Naza: :p
Adam: "Saya suka..." *dengan nada hampa*

I'm not quite sure whether he's referring to Shell's miniature Ferraris or the real deal.

Note: he refers Naza's maroon Avanza as Lightning McQueen
photo from here

Monday, June 01, 2009

Adam

A budding photographer.

Naza always find lots of photos taken by Adam whenever she 'lost' her camera for a few hours left lying around in the house. Sometimes with no more space for other photos. Most of the time, with exhausted batteries.



self-portrait, 2009




It is good to support his keen interest. Perhaps it's a good idea to buy him a Nikon D90 now.


While he learns to compose good photos, I could use the DSLR for other stuff.


Yeah, a good idea indeed.

Have I mentioned before that's he's a bit of a joker, too?

You would've guessed, anyway.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

neglected stereo

These past few days I suddenly had the urge of listening back to Counting Crows. Can't really say my favourite band, but I do like their songs. Out of their eight albums, I only have two.
  1. Their first album August and Everything After (1993).
  2. Across A Wire: Live From New York (1998) - bought because it's a value package - 2 CDs for about RM40.

Okay, and also a few CD singles, mainly from their second album Recovering The Satellites (1996).

After dinner just now, I decided to have an hour round of cycling around Seri Alam, for it has been more than a week without cycling. That decision was overthrown by the sudden thought of listening to CC on the stereo at home.

Popped in the August CD into the DVD player. What awful audio coming out of my floorstanding speakers! I made a quick check, and found the source of that poor audio quality. The left speaker's tweeter unit is not working. No treble coming out of it. Hence, the song doesn't come out right, losing it's balance on the high freq audio output.

Well, to think of it, my poor stereo system (we call them 'separates' in the UK, short of Hi Fi Separates) is neglected since a few years ago. Not really being looked at, a far cry from my student days - the time when I acquired the set. Used to check for dust and corrosion monthly (or weekly, depending on my mood). The funny thing was, the separates hype for me sort of ended some time after I came to Johor and started working here. A classic case of lack of environment filled with enthusiasts, diminishing the flame. Seems that I'm alone in the separates world over here.

It was very different while I was in Manchester (and it seems at that time, among friends across Britain). My peers are proud owners of separates. Wealthy people (like Shell and Petronas scholars) own high end systems, while those with not so deep pockets like me own entry to mid level systems. But yes, most of us would have our own separates. So a house with 3 or four students would have 3 or 4 different sets of separates.

Wherever we go and whenever we chat, there would always be an exchange of separates component models being discussed. Usually a blend of long alphanumeric codes decipherable only to the avid students of What Hi Fi (okay, other Hi Fi mags too) and Hi Fi store frequenters. Yeah, I can still remember a few: SL-PG 580A, CD-63SE MkIII KI Signature (that's a Marantz sweet CD Player - drool...), 733i, AE109, Alpha 7, Coda7, Talk4.1.

Back to my problem with the stereo. I have another pair of speakers, bookshelf type that I have not used since my days in KL with Technip. Took them down from the shelf, dusted a bit and propped on top of the floorstanders. Plugged the speaker cable leads into the speaker lugs. Hey presto, Adam Duritz and his band's music plays oh so beatifully coming out from the small speakers.

Time for a repair, that decade-old Mission 733i speaker of mine. I wonder how much it would cost me.
---------------
Here's my current setup for the home theater/stereo separates system:
  • Amplifier: Kenwood KR-V6080 Audio-Video Surround Receiver. Basically a 60 Watt Dolby Surround amplifier that functions as a radio tuner.
  • Video Source 1: Pioneer DV-366 DVD Player. Plays DVD, VCD, CD, CDR. Has dimmer function for the dot-matrix display (for ultra better sound quality when playing CDs - no apparent distortion or noise of electrical signal from the electronics. Kononnya).
  • Video Source 2: Astro decoder set top. Well, for watching Astro.
  • Display: Samsung LA32A450 32" Series 4 LCD Display. Okay, its an LCD TV. Sheeshh...
  • Speakers: Mission 733i Primavera floorstanders, Mission 731i black ash bookshelves, Acoustic Energy AE107C center speaker.
  • Cables - interconnect: Cambridge Audio Pacific (Yellow) for DVD Player, QED Qnect2 for Astro decoder.
  • Cables - speakers: Cable Talk Talk 4.1 Bi-Wire (fronts), QED Qudos Silver Micro (rears), QED Qudos Bi-Wire (center).

The intention initially was to have it set up as surround home theater. With Naza always changing the layout of furniture in the house (used to, but not anymore now), it would be a problem to set up the rear speakers in the living room. Anyway, I have only a Dolby Surround amp. The rear speakers would only give mono quality audio output. Nowadays the minimal norm would be Dolby Digital 5.1 which would give independent audio for each speakers for that realism. The center speaker's tweeter dome was poked by Marsya when she was smaller and experimenting his hand-eye co-ordination skills. With that collectively, I settled for only stereo setup for video and audio.

---------------

Choosing other old CDs to play, I picked up Gary Moore's Ballads & Blues CD. And, found inside the jewel case the SRAM and Rock Shox small stickers that I've been looking for all these while. Woohoo!

...yeap, there's always something related with cycling, my world nowadays.

Friday, January 30, 2009

fat cat bed

Hehehe...
I read about this just now, it's cute and funny.


http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/01/bedtime-for-titina.html

Hope you cat lovers out there like this one too!

Miao!

Friday, January 23, 2009

tagged!

Tagged by Lydia, and this has been long overdue.

1. Senaraikan 5 perkara tentang org yang tag kamu:
  1. Her name is Lydia
  2. She works in MMHE, attached with PMDP
  3. Hard on the outside, but actually mellow inside. She said so.
  4. She likes to bloop
  5. She always melalut in her blog
2. Tuliskan novel kegemaran kamu:
Michael Crichton's 'The Great Train Robbery'.
Was written in the year I was born!


3. Listkan 5 benda yang kamu sayang:
  1. my Titus watch - a wedding gift from my wife. later will pass on to my kids. an heirloom, sort of.
  2. my wallet - a storage for my family portrait, ID, driving licence, bankcard, and cash (yup, no credit cards). also a wedding gift, but replaced with a similar one. the old one still nicely kept.
  3. my ultra sophisticated handphone - Nokia 1200. actually, the data in it. and the emergency flashlight. my PDA as well also lah, like that...
  4. books
  5. bicycles
Now, these people are tagged by me:
Huar huar huar...

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

jalan jalan pegi berendam

Isnin 29 Disember 2008.
Ma'al Hijrah.

Aku sekeluarga bercadang untuk pergi berendam di Starhill resort (kawasan Kempas, arah ke Seelong). Lambat jugak kitorang keluar, dalam pukul 10 pagi.

Sampai aje kat tempat tu, abang jaga kat situ kata kolam tutup setiap Isnin.
Hampa.

Tukar arah ke Pulai Springs Resort pulak. Dah berapa lama aku kat JB ni, tak pernah berkunjung pun ke situ. Macam biasa lah, terbuka hanya pada ahli kelab sahaja. Ada laa dalam rm8k setahun yurannya.

Perjalanan diteruskan ke Gunung Pulai pulak. Info dari anak sedara aku yang kampungnya kat Pontian, katanya tempat tu dibuka. Info dari kawan sepengayuh kata tempat tu masih ditutup ekoran kemalangan akibat banjir kilat 2001. Aku baca suratkhabar semalam, masih dalam kajian 10 tahun sebelum dibuka semula. Ada lagi 2 tahun nak kena tunggu. Errkk...
Tapi aku tau, ada aje makhluk yang selamba naik ke situ dan menikmati alam anugerah Allah. Aku tetap teruskan jugak ke Gunung Pulai tu. Saja-saja nak tau jalan dan macamana rupa tempat tu. Rasanya aku ke situ cuma sekali, 10 tahun lepas... itupun jadi penumpang dok kat tempat duduk belakang tanpa menggunakan talipinggang keledar (masih belum menjadi kesalahan). Nak ke Gunung Pulai tu kena la pulak lalu Pekan Nanas. Heheheh... maka aku pun singgah le jugak jenguk-jenguk kedai beskal yang tersohor kat situ.

Sampai je kat Gunung Pulai tu ada papan tanda 'Dilarang Masuk'. Maka aku pun tak masuk le. Setelah berbincang, kami pun sepakat untuk ke Kota Tinggi. Pun, aku dah lama tak ke sana sejak dinaiktaraf pengurusan (dan harga tiket). Untuk itu, kami menghala ke Kulai. Kali pertama aku lalu jalan tu, dan kali pertama jugak le aku tau kat mana tempatnya Felda Taib Andak. Jauh jugak siut... padan le Mawi suami isteri naik heli nak ke sini untuk hadiri kenduri sendiri (hey, it rhymes!).

Perjalanan diteruskan ke Kota Tinggi dari Kulai. Bab ni, aku agak familiar siket pasal ada laa 3-4 kali jugak aku dah ke Air Terjun Kota Tinggi. Dalam pukul 2 petang kami sampai kat pintu masuk. Lepas bayar tiket untuk 2 dewasa, 2 kanak-kanak dan 1 kereta, kitorang pun menuju ke tempat parkir dan bersiap solat zohor sebelum pegi berendam.

Fuhh... Punya laa ramai orang kat situ. Iye la, cuti umum kan...

Kitorang naik ke tingkat atas dan carik tempat sesuai untuk berendam. Agak cuak bagi aku pasal kena handle 2 budak tak berapa kecik dan sorang mak budak. Kali pertama aku bawak Marsya dan Adam gi berendam kat air terjun. Dengan batu besarnya, dengan lumut kat batu jadi licinnya, dengan air yang sejuknya... fuhh... best dengan bahaya bercampur. Nasib baek anak2 aku tak komen kuat2 pasal couple2 yang shame-shame kat situ. Rasa macam overprotective pulak bila aku dok pimpin diorang masuk kat tempat berendam tu. Tapi bila tiba masa nak pindah kat tempat lain pulak, aku amik keputusan untuk biarkan Marsya & Adam cari jalan diorang sendiri (aku jadi guide aje) untuk melintasi bebatu besar dan licin.

Ada 3 tempat kitorang berendam. Sebetulnya, aku & Naza je yang banyak berendam. Penghujung air terjun tu ada gelungsur lebar. Aku turun kat situ, memang syiok. Last call, kononnya, sebelum balik tinggalkan air terjun. Marsya nak cuba jugak, tapi takut-takut. Pastu bila aku setuju turun sama-sama, dia pun beranikan diri turun kat situ. Penyudahnya, 2-3 kali jugak kami dok naik-turun kat situ.

Kami balik dan cari makan kat bandar Kota Tinggi. Jumpa restoran Nasi Padang. Lepas makan, aku ternampak ada pulak satu kedai surfing kat tingkat atas. Tangganya betul betul bersebelahan dengan kedai makan tu. Aku naik ke atas saja jenguk-jenguk, Naza pulak belek-belek kedai baju kat sebelah.

Aku turun cari Naza, dia takde. Padan la takde... dia menyorok kat dalam fitting room kedai baju tu. Maka aku pun ada laa lesen untuk berkunjung ke kedai beskal Lim. Terus aku telefon si Jai tanya kat mana letaknya kedai tu. Berkunjung ke kedai Lim tu, ada pulak tuas brek Avid SD 7. Aku pun angkut le sepasang... (maka lengkaplah cockpit SRAM aku sekarang ni).

6.30 petang kami pulang dari Kota. Dah balik baru la terasa penat. Tapi aku rasa berbaloi. Ada pengalaman baru untuk aku, Marsya & Adam. Dan ada baju baru untuk Naza. Dan ada barang mtb baru untuk aku.
Keh keh keh...

Saturday, November 08, 2008

one minute writing

http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/

Stumbled upon this blog page this morning.

Especially if you're a Toastmaster, and looking for topics for Table Topics Session, this is a great site for resource. It helps to start the idea rolling.

Otherwise, still a good way of pushing you to write.
In the movie 'Finding Forrester' (Sean Connery, Rob Brown), there's a scene whereby William Forrester (Connery) asked Jamal Wallace (Brown) to type away with the typewriter - without thinking, or drafting. Just go on and write. Don't wait. Write about whatever on your mind.
Well, Beth included on her blog page a 1 minute timer, and a word (writing prompt) as the topic for you to write about.

One more thing:
While you're at her oneminutewriter page, scroll down to 'The One Minute Writer can help..' section on the left panel. I'm happy to report that Beth credited me for the idea above.
:)
Hehe...
Thanks, Beth!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

family tree

Norzam created our family tree on Geni some time ago.
I was invited into it by Kak Liza yesterday, following our conversation during her son's kenduri at Mak Ngah's on Saturday.
And so I spent some time updating my profile and such yesterday.
Quite nice, but I'm still getting the hang of it.
I'll need a lot of time to upload photos and what nots, plus regularly visiting the tree.

Imagine a gathering of your whole family online.
Woohoo! Boleh bikin havoc satu Malaya.

Kudos to Norzam and Aunty Bong's family for getting our family tree started online.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

soft drink refill at McD - update

I submitted a query to McD Malaysia with this question:
a quick question:
can i have free soft drink refills at any of your outlets?

Their reply an hour ago:
Dear Akmal,

Greetings from McDonald's Malaysia!

Thank you for taking the time in submitting your inquiry through our
official website dated 24th October.

With regards to your question below, FREE soft drink refills do happen at
all our outlets if the drink is being purchased on the day of purchase &
from the outlet that is being purchased.

We would appreciate if you could provide us with more details of your
experience that you had recently as this are areas where we can improve our
services.

Once again, thank you & we hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Leonard M. W. Wong
Corporate Communications Department
(tel/fax/email withheld)
Website: http://www.mcdonalds.com.my

Friday, October 24, 2008

soft drink refill at McD

we know that there's free flow of soft drinks in Burger King outlets in Malaysia.
this is widely publicised.

what is not widely publicised is that you can have refill of soft drinks in McDonald's outlets.
yup, it's true. no kidding.
just take your empty soft drink cup to the counter and ask for refills like nobody's business.

i asked about this fact to the McD crew in Ampang Park outlet in front of many other customers (during lunch hour). she answered 'yes' matter-of-factly.

so there you go. knock yourself out.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

:-) internet smileys: the origin

a piece of information technology history

Yad my office mate asked a casual question this morning (while eating a hari raya cookie with a heart-shaped sugar bit) :
who invented the heart shape as the symbol of love?
and who invented the smiley icon?
i began my research on the internet there and then.
while the original research intent was to find the origin of the round yellow smiley icon, it eventually brought my attention to the internet smiley.
i guess it is because of the creativity of the creator. more importantly there was a real need for it that necessitates the invention.
as the saying goes:
necessity is the mother of invention
The need: an icon (or marker) to denote whether a message in bulletin board (precursor of newsgroups) is meant as a joke.
The inventor: Scott E. Fahlman of Carnegie Mellon University.
The moment: 19th September 1982.

Read the full story of the creation narrated by Scott himself.

link to Microsoft page on the origin of internet smiley.

:-)