I Divorced AMAX - Talak 1

Today last week I subscribed to AMAX Broadband service to test whether I can get a better signal for my internet connection. It was a RM 88 per month at 1 Mbps download speed. My house is just not more than 1/2 a km away from the base station at Technology Park and is on the fringe of the coverage area based on the map.

On the first day I laid out the modem and connect it to my router. The first signal I got was NETENTRY-RANGING. That shows I could not get log on to the internet because I must have the AWAKE status and my CINR must be at least 15,15 (please don't ask me about technicalities).

I called the customer service and I can give the customer a thumb up because the guy at the other end really did his best to guide me through my problem until I manage to get the AWAKE status and my CINR increased to 15,15 (minimum required). It was a landline and not the 1-800 line (eventhough there is for AMAX). He asked me to reposition the moden and what an awkward place to have to place it. It was in my daughter's bedroom that face the Technology Park across the Sungai Besi-Puchong expressway. That's the only spot where I can at times get CINR to register more than 15,15. Move a few inches away and the signal can get to negative. Luckily I can receive the signal from the router that I connect to the modem. Or else I have to buy lengthy cable and wire the house (which does not live up to wireless connection).

A few days after that, suddenly I couldn't get any connection and called the customer service again. Once more thumb up for him because he did really gave the service I needed. After some guide from him through the "technical maze", I found out that the amber light does not light up. And that's when he said, "Take your modem to AMAX for replacement." One day of trial goes bust, err...I mean cyberspace? So, I took the modem to AMAX at TTDI where the technician said he reboot it.

At home I juggle with the location and signal again. The whole evening until the wee hour of the next morning, I was meddling with moving the modem all over the house and even into the toilet. Remember Mr Bean having problem with his TV reception until he has to strip and cover himself with the carton box. It's lucky for him the box is big enough the cover most part of him. Just wonder I have to do that and cover my body with just that small modem box.

When I place the modem in its previous location, I just get an OUT OF ZONE status. Worse still, I can't use the router anymore to get connected to the internet. Then again I can't connect to the Wimax Gateway using my account on my netty. Whenever I key in 192.168.1.1 it answered with the Oops! This link appears to be broken and registered this URL 202.186.14.166 (what is this?) I have to use the Guest account.

After all those trouble, I guess why I keep my "marriage" with AMAX and stress my mind. Moreover, I might be moving back to Jitra in December which is just half of the contract term and still have to pay RM88.00 a month for another 12 months for nothing because there is no coverage there.

I made my final test on Friday noon and the most I can get the CINR is 12 and when it refresh, the CINR can decrease until it goes negative.

Finally i made up my mind, I have to divorce AMAX and get back my dowry...err..I mean refund instead of keeping it and face a stressful condition whenever I want to get connected to the internet.

Now I have to be just satisfied with what I have.

When will our broadband service live up to the Multimedia Super Corridor objective.

UPDATED

While surfing and reading blogs, I came across this interesting post and downloaded the attached photo.

Condom N Kotex

Just sharing this from someone on twitter.

Luc1FF3R

Condom says to kotex, "F U", every month u stop my business for 1 week, Kotex says: Ahhhhhh if u make 1 mistake, I lose my business 9months.

Oops! This Link Appear To Be Broken

Since about a week ago, I have been receiving this message on my netty (netbook). I am not sure whether its connection problem or my netty's problem. Read also my posting Broadband In Malaysia Sucks. I thought it was because of my new broadband service but it was just three days ago I started using it. I am experiencing it frequently when running on Maxis Broadband too. I use to have a better signal strength at the office but now at home too this Oops! This link appear to be broken message appears more frequently.

Besides receiving the message, seems that I am having problem opening blogger which includes uploading of pictures. Is our broadband service getting from bad to worse? Can we be proud of our Multimedia Super Corridor after all?

Broadband In Malaysia Sucks

Internet and Broadband in Malaysia sucks. Thats what I experience after trying to about most services. I have had Streamyx, Celcom Broadband, Maxis Broadband, P1Wimax and now I just subscribed to Amax. I am not sure about Digi since I am not a subscriber yet.

I started using the internet service with dial up with Jaring then only change to Streamyx. Then I move to Celcom 3G. I subscribe to Celcom 3G because I bought a 3G enable mobile phone and for the reason I travel a lot. My cousin introduced me to Maxis Broadband where I paid upfront RM100 to register.

When Green Packet announced about Wimax service, I was all anxious and excited to be a subscriber because I had read in a computer magazine about its powerful and wide signal. More over it is wireless. P1 launced it service and I sign my name and join the P1 Wimax user. Shit! Its only within the 7 days trial period the signal is excellent and after I made my first monthly subscription, the signal goes bust. I can't even load the frontpage of any browser and I stop paying the monthly subscription. P1 Wimax did not live up to what they had advertised. Not even to best effort. So, I let them potong my service. After they are fond of the word potong!. Yes I have been potonged and yet P1 Wimax is going to ask me to pay the monthly subscription eventhough they did not provide me any service. Not even 1 byte of data.

I move on to AMAX now. Subscribed it on Saturday 22nd January. I was hoping for a better signal since my house is just about a hundred metre away from their transmission tower. However, I am not hoping for a better signal from AMAX too because it is not stable.

I found out that I still have to take ages to get blogger appear on my monitor screen. It seems that the speed is  no better then Maxis Broadband that I am using but much better than P1, of course. At least I can get some pages loaded. I still have 5 days more to test.  

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SLAMS US, Err... I MEAN.....

Took this from Harakahdaily 

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22: In its World Report 2010, Human Rights Watch said that Prime Minister Najib Razak took office in April 2009 promising to respect "the fundamental rights of the people," but his government has failed to undertake the systematic reforms needed to fulfill that pledge.

In Malaysia, the HRW report says, instead of addressing persistent human rights problems, the government harasses the political opposition, improperly restricts the rights to peaceful expression, association, and assembly, and mistreats migrants.

"The Malaysian government appears to be more interested in pursuing short-term political advantage than safeguarding rights," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"In the hopes of maintaining control and power, the government has turned its back on its promises to protect people's rights."

The 612-page report is the organization's 20th annual review of human rights practices around the globe, and summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations and territories worldwide.

Repeal ISA, allow freedom of expression

The release of a number of detainees held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) early in Prime Minister Najib's term was a positive development, Human Rights Watch said.

But Parliament should repeal that law and other repressive laws, including the Police Act 1967, which was most recently used to justify a violent crackdown on a citizens' march against the ISA on August 1. Security forces attacked the gathering with tear gas and water laced with chemicals fired from water cannon trucks, and arrested almost 600 people, including 44 children.

Human Rights Watch criticized the government's continuing heavy restrictions on freedom of expression. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 enables government officials to compel censorship of publications through control of printing and distribution licenses.

More recently, internet media and bloggers are coming under closer scrutiny as the government, cognizant of the internet's impact in the last general election, tries to rein in non-traditional media.

Migrants abused in detention camps

Malaysian legislation failed to distinguish refugees and asylum seekers from other undocumented migrants and authorized Ikatan Relawan Rakyat (RELA), an ill-trained, abusive civilian force, to use its authority to enter living quarters and make arrests without search or arrest warrants.

Apprehended undocumented migrants are detained under inhumane conditions in immigration detention centers, where several migrants died during 2009 and dozens were sickened by leptospirosis, a disease spread by animal feces in unclean water.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee produced a report alleging ties between Malaysian deportations and human trafficking gangs at the Malaysian-Thai border, where the lives of deportees were at risk if they could not pay ransoms.

"It is beyond understanding why the Malaysian government delays access to basic medical services for the thousands of migrants locked in cramped, dirty, and disease-ridden conditions," Robertson said. "How many more migrants have to die in detention before Malaysian policymakers wake up?"

Picking on Anwar, NGOs, journalists

Human rights defenders - such as lawyers, journalists, and members of nongovernmental organizations - faced continued harassment and the possibility of arrest, especially if the government considered their work to be connected to opposition political parties.

Malaysia also continues to violate human rights norms by criminalizing adult consensual sexual behavior, as evidenced by the ongoing efforts to bring the parliamentary opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, to trial for alleged consensual sodomy in a case that many observers believe is politically motivated.

"For a country that is so proud of its post-colonial political development, it is truly bizarre that the government continues to enforce an antiquated British colonial law against ‘sodomy' by consenting adults," said Robertson. "It's about time the government brought its criminal code into the 21st century."

Talk is cheap

Under pressure from the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC), the government made slight modifications to the law that established Suhakam, Malaysia's Human Rights Commission. However, Suhakam remained hampered by its status as an advisory committee, without adequate independence for its commissioners or power to compel enforcement of its decisions.

The major recommendations to Malaysia's government in the Human Rights Watch report are:

- Revoke the Internal Security Act and other arbitrary and preventive detention measures;

- Rescind the Printing Presses and Publications Act, narrowing the definition of sedition and seditious tendency;

- Amend the Police Act to provide for reasonable and negotiated conditions for assembly;

- Abolish RELA and uphold the rights of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

In addition, Human Rights Watch urges ratification of key international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

"During the early days of his government, Prime Minister Najib talked big on protecting human rights - but talk is cheap," Robertson said. "If the government really believes in its 1Malaysia campaign, then it should demonstrate real commitment to improving respect for the human rights of all Malaysians."

Is There Really Crocs In Port Dickson

I had just came back from a workshop at a resort in Tanjung Tuan, Port Dickson. The most talked topic when it comes to the idea of swimming is crocodile and that was publicised in blogs and forums. This triggered by this  incident where a picnicker was bitten by something and dragged towards the sea. He however manage to escape. Read HERE too.

Then there was a confirmation that there are crocs and being sighted at Tanjung Tuan. One blog post about the croc HERE and Youtube video HERE.

However today Negeri Sembilan MB denied that there are crocs in Port Dickson. Read HERE.

Which is true? If it is really true that there really "stray" crocs around the beaches of Port Dickson, then tourism  will suffer. If we trust the Negeri MB, then there might be lives at jeopardy.

Longest Annular Eclipse Of The Century

Today most of us had waited to witness the annular eclipse of the sun.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the outline of the Moon.


However in Malaysia we are only able to see partial eclipse because the sun is in the northern hemispehere. I watched what happen in Bangalore, India HERE. See path of the eclipse HERE. 


I picked this from HERE. Today is the day you will witness the longest solar eclipse of this century take place. The annular solar eclipse would be visible in most parts of India but only the southern fringes of the country will see it as an Annular eclipse. For the rest of the country, it would be a partial solar eclipse.

The best places to see the eclipse in its annular from would be Dhanuskodi town near Rameshwaram. If you are already there, wait for the show to begin! The eclipse will last for over 10 minutes in mainland India and can go up to a maximum of 11 minutes 8 seconds in parts of the Indian ocean thus making it the longest solar eclipse of this century. The eclipse starts a at 10:44 am IST and will end at 2:29 PM (IST). This is not the total duration of the eclipse but the range of time different places would see the eclipse happen.


I am sure most of us were disappointed because during the time the eclipse occur, heavy rain clouds shroud the area around the sun (in Kuala Lumpur). I and a few friends was quite lucky today because was able to see the shadow of the moon encroaching into the sun for a few minutes before being covered by the clouds. 


I felt lucky to see it even for a short while because I might not be able to witness another annular eclipse because the next annulus solar eclipse will come again in 1028 years. Check dates for next solar eclipse HERE. 


As reported in The Straits Times, Singapore- The duration of 'annularity' - the time the moon is in front of the sun - was 11 minutes, eight seconds at 0706 GMT, making it 'the longest annular eclipse of the 3rd Millennium,' according to Nasa. Only on Dec 23, 3043 will this record be beaten. The lunar umbra, or shadow was set to expire in the Shandong peninsula in China at 0859 GMT. -- AFP

OMG!! Would You Be Like This Son?

This is just sharing and what do you feel if you are the father and your son do this to you. 

Heartless act of a son and daughter-in-law

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS
Compiled by YENG AI CHUN, NG SI HOON AND A. RAMAN

A 57-year-old man, who had just undergone heart surgery, thought he could recuperate at home but was in for a shock when his son told him not to return home.

Harian Metro reported that Abdul Rahman Talib was abandoned by the roadside in Kangar with just a bag of clothes by his 30-year-old son after his daughter-in-law refused to let him back into the house.

“I asked my son to drive me to town although I did not know where I could go. Instead, he left me in front of a school.

“I cried as I stepped out from his car. I did not expect him to treat me like this after I’ve brought him up lovingly all these years,” he said, adding that he felt lost wandering around before finally settling down for the night at a bus stop.

Abdul Rahman said the following day, his son had come to look for him but the old man’s joy was short-lived when he realised that the son was only dropping off his bicycle.

He said he met an acquaintance near the school two days later and was invited to spend the night at his house.

It is understood that the Social Welfare Department had since sent Abdul Rahman to the Batu Bertangkap Welfare Home in Beseri.

UPDATED
Harian Metro today carry a follow up of the story but whatever it is I still can't accept a sensible son would  treat his oldman in such a way for whatever reason he has.

Ban SMS Contest

A BERNAMA report carried in The Star Online: call to ban SMS contests.

KUALA LUMPUR: Relevant authorities have been urged to study the possibility of banning SMS contests as they allegedly contain elements of cheating.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk T. Murugiah said he felt that SMS contests should be banned as it was a form of gambling, with the people ending up losers while the organisers raked in huge profits.

“I have received many complaints from many people who had fallen prey to the scams. They lost between a few hundred ringgit and hundreds of thousand ringgit,” he told reporters after meeting SMS contest victims here Tuesday.

The victims filed their complaints with the Public Complaint Bureau headed by Murugiah.

”Winners of SMS contests are short-changed. They are duped into paying more than the value of the prizes that they have won,” he added. -- Bernama

SMS has been the latest platform for businesses to rake in profit. Together with them are the SMS service providers too. We agree that the objective of doing business is to make profit. But make profit not on the expanse of the consumers. Whether we realise it or not, the consumers except one or two, are not on the winning side in anything. It is not a win win situation because only one party profits while the other lose.

The authority should look into the matter and not only contest through SMS but also into reality shows that encourage the public to vote using SMS. Its the SMS service provider and the organiser who laugh all the way to the bank but the voters who can go into hundreds or thousands of RMs are just syok sendiri. Its sheer waste of hard earned money.

There are more ways where service provider make money through SMS such as music and graphic downloads, jokes, horoscope and the list goes on. We can get all those elsewhere for free or at a cheaper rate.

The best thing to do  is we ourselves have to educate our own self. We might say OK la, just 30 cents. But it is not you alone doing it. Thousands are being involved. How sure are we not being conned by these service provider. Most of the time results are not released and are there any winner at all?  

So.........just refrain yourself from falling into the trap of these SMS that lure you into parting with your money.

Uncalled For

The torching of Metro Terbanacle in Kuala Lumpur and Live Chapel in Section 17, Petaling Jaya is uncalled for. When things can be settled peacefully, why raise the temperature. I am sure Muslims do not want their suraus and mosque being treated the same.

Muhammad PBUH : No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Picked from MM's ranting and read all HERE.

Blogger Too Have Limit

It seems that I have to redirect my readers to a new blog in future . All my blogs won't be able to upload any more pictures because I have reached the picture upload limit.

http://twitpic.com/x0ujd

Blog4FT Contest Closed

Today the Blog4FT competition closed. After being opened for three months, the competition attracted more than 4,000 blog posts.

I managed to squeeze in as the top five contributors and stand a chance of winning a Celcom Broadband stick with one month of Free usage. At first my hope is of course to win the Grand Prize of a Peugeot 308i but after the first and second month, none of my post win any monthly prize, my hope dashes. If only for December win, I might still stand a chance. However after reading the monthly winners posting, I accept that their blogs are much better and ought to win.

After the contest was closed, I manage to submit 71 blogs and that puts me on the last spot of the Top 5 Contributors. On December 29, I was not in the Top 5 and that is when I work out my strategy. I worked harder to search for materials to write more post but I just published and not submit it to Blog4FT. I did that just to let the guy on the 5th spot with 68 posts gets complacent since he is leading the sixth spot blogger by 5 blogpost and I was trailing at 9th spot with just 60 posts. I just write and keep a low profile because in my opinion, if he see  that there is someone chasing him, he might write more posts and it will be more difficult to beat. I was also hoping that he will not submit more postings.

I intended to submit my posts before the clock ticks 12.00 p.m because that will mark the end of 5th January, the closing date. My intention was to catch him off guard and he will have no time to add more posts because of the time. However lady luck was on my side. I break my promise and started to submit my postings from noon and by 4.50, I submitted my eleventh post that make it 71. To lead by 3 blogs is not very secure, so I submitted another but to find out that the submission had closed and it was 5.00 p.m. Phew, I was lucky to have submitted all my posts before closing time because, I was unaware (maybe other bloggers too) that the closing time is 5.00 pm. So, my strategy works.

Why not vote my blog posts  HERE.

No Plastic Bag

Shoppers caught unaware by "No Plastic Bag Campaign". That was in The Star.

Shoppers at Carrefour Shah Alam were caught unaware that Saturday's 2nd January 2010 was the start of No Plastic Day.

When plastic has become a threat to environment due to its lifespan after being discarded into nature's environment, it is a positive move to realise of reducing it. Going Green being the theme all over the world to help  delay nature's destruction needs cooperation of everybody. Therefore the No Plastic Day should be supported.

Who benefit from this?

Of course nature and environment.

However the main party that benefit most are the hypermart and business outlets. These outlet saves cost for not  supplying anymore plastic bags to be given away to consumers and while doing so increase sales by selling reusable bags while reducing overhead cost. On the other end price of consumer goods keeps escalating while hypermarts keeps making more profit.

So, if plastic bag is damaging why not go back to paper bags like those old days when items are wrapped in surat khabar lama or brown paper packages. Oooooo. using paper will have to cut down more trees. No, lah. Do we have recyclable paper products? I don't think recycle paper result in cutting down new trees.

Mak No Plastic Bags campaign a win win  situation.

What!! A Bowl Of Cendol Uses 1/2 Kilo Sugar?

Surprised? No, Don't be. I just want to relate this to the price increased on a bowl of cendol in Malacca. It was reported in Harian Metro 2nd January.

Peniaga terpaksa naikkan harga cendol 10 sen.
..............sementara itu, peniaga  cendol di kawasan bersejarah jam besar dia Jalan Laksemana, Muhd Kassim Abdullah, 27, berkata dia terpaksa menaikkan harga jualan cendol sebanyak 10 sen bagi setiap semangkuk.

Katanya, sebelum ini minuman cendol dijual pada harga RM1.40 sen semangkuk, tetapi sebaik harga gula dinaikkan menyebabkan tiada pilihan selain meningkatkan jualan harga cendol.  

This is a clear example of daylight robbery. So , now do you see that a bowl of cendol uses half a kilo of sugar? A clear sign of going for diabetes. There is a better way for Encik Muhd Kassim Abdullah to still make a profit by reducing the sweetness of his cendol and thus uses less sugar which will be equal to help fighting diabetes among his custpmers.

When will price of other sugar based items be increase.

Whatever it is the government will always tell us stupid consumers that price increase of sugar will not affect the population.

This Annoying Pop Up

I use to receive this annoying pop-ups for an on-line university degree. This happens often happens when I wanted to view my blog after being posted. Today I receive this pop-up again everytime I click to view my blog after posting. I enable pop-up blocker on my netbook and maybe that's the reason it appears on the main page.

Then I found out that the problem is with the FREE Geobytes addin. Worse it this statement "Earn-your-degree.com has no control over that or any other pop-up advertising. "

So. now the question is do I have to delete my Geobyte addin? I am not ready to be a Premium member because there is not much benefit from upgrading.

The Message Is Clear

Its a clear message to Malaysians.

There should be a ! after NO

Condolence To Family of Tan Sri Mohammed Rahmat

Tan Sri Mohammed Rahmat passed away peacefully in his sleep Friday. Condolence to his family.