Quick Quote

After helping to prepare the Mother’s Day Brunch, Jane said:

“Thanks for the Mother’s Day Brunch…

ME!”

Hummingbird robot revealed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12513315

There is also a video at BBC website that shows it flying.

NİŞAN PASTASI VE KURABİYELERİ

Genting Highland with Family and friends

my dad friend pay a visit in KL. so i become their tour guide.. and we went up genting for the trip.


this is a classic camera.. and it's till serving the owner in good conditions.


i kinda like this view... out side the door. the huge Buddha statue is located out there.


the huge Buddha statue.


poor buddha.. i think is time to get some haircut..


inside firstworld


resort world genting.


here is the Genting Highland.


Arial view of whole Genting highland


and here the photo of taken inside snow house.

Global warming? Never mind....

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism - Yahoo! News

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Thanks, Al, for nothing. You can go home now. And stay there.

BTW, Remote Sensing is a distant relative of mine.

"Anders Breivik as a Pragmatic Agnostic"

Anders Breivik as a Pragmatic Agnostic

Breivik's turgid writings show that he did not even consider himself a Christian. He was enamored with the idea of Christendom, a political structure, as a bulwark against Islamism.

But as for actual Christian faith and practice, well, he had no real affection or use for that.

Caption Contest!

Yes, this really happened: "Hapless blonde crashes her Bentley into a Merc, Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin."

The news story accompanying the photo says,

Scientists at the University of Michihan [sic] looked at 6.5million car crashes and found a higher than expected number of accidents between two female drivers.

They also discovered that women have a tough time negotiating crossroads, T-junctions and slip roads.

About which I have no comment.

Leave a caption. Comments on, please see commenting rules.

The Highest Priced Stocks In America - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Highest-Priced-Stocks-In-investopedia-3559356546.html?x=0

Exxon profit up 41 percent, misses Street - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Exxon-profit-41-percent-rsg-2550339349.html?x=0&.v=1

Exxon, Shell use soaring profits to buy output growth - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Exxon-Shell-use-soaring-rsg-1288739247.html;_ylt=AstNCPpxf1SM5L4Zk0KlqUWiwsRG;_ylu=X3oDMTE4OTZuZmZ2BHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5ZmlUb3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawNleHhvbnNoZWxsdXM-?x=0

Four Ways to Put Your Stuff in the Cloud

The technology industry brings us a smorgasbord of wonderful stuff that goes on forever. I'm profoundly grateful. But I've never understood its long-standing infatuation with one of its most famous inventions: buzzwords. About 90% of the ones it creates are confusing rather than clarifying, especially since few catch on with the non-geek majority. Cloud computing -- the most pervasive buzzword du jour -- is particularly pointless. Cloud is a synonym for the Internet, a concept we've all understood reasonably well for 15 or more years. Why rename it now?
The fact that I grouse about the terminology doesn't mean I'm skeptical about the idea it describes. Actually, I love the idea of keeping photos, music, video and other files on the Internet. Doing so means I can get to my goodies from my laptop, my smart phone and my iPad, without trying to remember which items I stored where. And having an online backup or two of essential files is a humongous relief if your hard drive goes kerflooey -- as so many drives will, sooner or later. (See "Amazon's Cloud Music and Storage: A Good Start.")
Putting your digital possessions in the cloud isn't tough. There are a bunch of sensible ways to do it, each with its own upsides, plus a downside or two. Herewith, a quick guide to four of them.

1. Sync everything everywhere.

The simplest way to store your stuff in the cloud is to keep saving it on your computer's hard drive, just as you've been doing forever. All you need is a synching service that instantly and silently clones the contents of folders you specify to all your computers as well as to an online drive where everything's available all the time.
Box.net and SugarSync will give you 5 GB of space for free, which is more than enough to judge whether their offerings will make your life easier. (Longtime fan favorite Dropbox offers a more parsimonious 2 GB; it also suffered from an unnerving security glitch last month that briefly let anyone log into any account without providing a password.) Besides providing software for Windows PCs and Macs, all these services have apps for iPhones and Android handsets that give you on-the-go access to the files you've synched from one or more computers.
The biggest gotcha with synching is that it can get unaffordable fast, especially if you want to shuttle copious amounts of disk-hogging videos as well as relatively slender files such as photos and MP3s. If I wanted to use SugarSync to back up the entire contents of my MacBook Air's solid-state drive, I'd need to spring for the 250-GB plan, which costs $24.99 a month or $249.99 a year. Instead, I'm selective -- I make do with the 30-GB version, which is $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year. (See TIME's special report on the top iPhone applications.)
One other tip: synching services only work if you're running their software on all your computers and it's functioning properly. I've occasionally discovered that such utilities have quietly conked out without me noticing. It pays to check them from time to time to make sure they're moving files back and forth as promised.

2. Use one or more online storage services for little or nothing.

With services such as Box, Dropbox and SugarSync, you've got two options: limit your uploads to a few gigabytes and pay nothing, or pay a monthly fee for more space. Or you could ignore them altogether for one or more services that provide more spartan online storage at much lower price tags.
Last week, for instance, Amazon.com started allowing anyone who pays for its Cloud Drive service to upload an unlimited quantity of music. There are some catches, but for $20 a year you can store all your MP3s on the Web, plus another 20 GB of files of any type -- a good, budget-minded alternative to a synching service.
Read about the promise and pitfalls of cloud computing.
For photos and videos, Google's Picasa Web Albums service is even more tightwad-friendly: 20 GB of storage costs a measly $5 a year. And you might not even need to pay that much, since photos of less than 2048-by-2048 resolution and videos that run for less than 15 minutes don't count against your freebie allotment of 1 GB of space.
And then there's Microsoft's SkyDrive, which gives you 25 GB of Web-based space for anything, for free.
All these services have a no-frills feel compared to their pricier rivals. Cloud Drive and Picasa don't do fancy automatic synching of files of all sorts, and SkyDrive does it only for 5 GB of files, and only in conjunction with a low-profile Microsoft service called Live Mesh. But if they give you what you need, the price is certainly right. (See the top 10 Apple moments.)

3. Put a hard drive on the Web.

I have more than a few tech-savvy friends who instinctively bristle at the notion of entrusting their prized files to a SugarSync, a Google or anybody else. Rather than pay for the privilege of uploading data to distant servers in undisclosed locations, they prefer to keep it at home under their own supervision. Fine. It's possible to do that while also putting your files in the cloud, by using a storage device that piggybacks on your home network's Internet connection to make your content available (with password protection) on any Net-connected device.
Storage systems that do this abound, such as Western Digital's My Book World Edition and Iomega's Home Media Drive Cloud Edition. I like Buffalo's CloudStor, which starts at $159.99 for a version that packs a 1-TB hard drive. Its built-in software, powered by a clever service called PogoPlug, makes setting up the drive and reaching your files from any browser just about painless, with no knowledge of networking minutiae required. All 1 TB (or more) of disk space is up for grabs -- a mammoth amount of real estate by cloud-based storage standards.
My major reservation about these gizmos is the same one that makes them appealing to many folks: they don't duplicate your files to a remote server. For priceless treasures like your best family photos, you don't just want to have a backup -- you want backups of your backups. And -- not to get too depressing here -- it's best if some of the backups are stored somewhere other than your house, just in case disaster strikes. Unlike my more paranoid pals, I'm comfortable allowing outfits like SugarSync and Google to manage my data. They'll surely do a better job of backing everything up than I would if left to my own devices. (See the all-TIME 100 gadgets.)

4. Put your computer on the Web.

Still reading? Maybe you don't care to use a fully Web-based service and don't want to invest in a networked storage device. If so, you still have options in the form of software that can put the contents of any PC on your home network onto the Internet. For instance, PogoPlug (the software I admire in Buffalo's CloudStor) is also available as a stand-alone, downloadable version for Windows and Macs. Install it on a computer and run it at all times, and it gathers up all the photos, music, videos and other files on the computer and lets you access them from any browser and from PogoPlug's apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android. As with the CloudStor version, it's about as hassle-free as networking gets, and there's a less-powerful free version.
Even more than with networked drives, it's important to remember that the PogoPlug software isn't a substitute for a backup strategy. And it requires you to leave your computer on, something that's more plausible if you own a desktop PC that stays put than if you tote a laptop.
If none of these approaches appeals to you, there's another viable strategy: wait. Even more options are on the way, the most notable of which is Apple's iCloud service. Due this fall, it aims to deliver the simplest, most comprehensive approach to storing data on the Net, at least if you're equipped with a full complement of Apple devices, such as a Mac, an iPhone, an iPod Touch, an iPad or any combination of those products. Steve Jobs, as you'd expect, says that iCloud "just works." If he's right, count me in -- but until then, I'm a happy SugarSync customer.


[ McCracken blogs about personal technology at Technologizer, which he founded in 2008 after nearly two decades as a tech journalist; on Twitter, he's @harrymccracken. His column, also called Technologizer, appears every Thursday on TIME.com.
See pictures of the history of the computer.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week. ]

My August 2 prediction

After reading these two posts (link and link) I have a prediction of what will happen between now and Aug. 2. But first, the posts:

Bryan Preston:

Unbelievable: Obama White House Stubbornly Refusing to Release Any Written Debt Plan (Update: Video Added)

The Obama White House is so irresponsible, and so fearful of locking itself into anything at all, that it’s refusing to even put a debt plan on paper. Rory Cooper tweeted this from today’s WH press briefing:

Chuck Todd: “Release your plan” Jay Carney: “We’ve shown a lot of leg” Todd: “Why not just release it?” Carney: “You need it written down?”

Yes, Jay, the American people elected your boss in the hope that he might occasionally do his job. Show his work. Demonstrate a little competence once in a while. Is that too much to ask?

It is worth remembering that for all the scorn the president hurled Monday night at selected members of Congress for opposing the Democrat plan for revenue enhancement raising taxes, the White House has proposed exactly zero, zilch, nada, null set. But this is not surprising:

The Democratic Senate has not proposed a budget in either of the last two years. In February, President Obama offered a budget that would actually increase the deficit. Then in a speech in April he essentially retracted it, and offered in its place a vague and incoherent series of policy goals that left Democrats with no particular agenda. On June 23, at a hearing of the Budget Committee, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf was asked what his agency made of the proposals in that presidential address. “We don’t estimate speeches,” he said. “We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech.”

Well, Douglas, old boy, you just ain't-a gonna get it from this president.

Then we have Richard Pollock on Monday night's speech:

For those of us who have watched the torturous day-to-day descent of this crisis, the president’s detachment and absence have been obvious. On Monday, Politico’s Glenn Thrush reported: “Obama was barely visible for much of the weekend.”

As the president faced the nation on Monday evening, he knew his economic legacy was on the line. Historians will judge him for his economic stewardship.

The assessment will not be good. Going deep into his presidential term, he presides over a country that suffers from high unemployment, record home foreclosures, and a no-growth economy. But when the most pivotal issue of our decade emerged — a $16.8 trillion debt crisis — where was the “Obama plan”?

The sad truth is there is no Obama plan and there never has been a plan. The president gingerly approached the debt crisis as he has approached other issues: intellectually, coolly, passively, and with great detachment. ...

None of the plans being debated today have the imprimatur of the Oval Office. At a moment when presidential leadership is so vital, President Obama has been passive. Passivity also was the hallmark of his approach to his other signature blockbuster initiatives: the TARP bailout, ObamaCare, and the financial services initiatives.

This detachment will not essentially change between now and Aug. 2. So what will the president do between now and then?

So what is my prediction for Obama's decision between now and Aug. 2? Just go below the fold.

Comment of the day

I'm very happy to hear that the NFL increased the debt ceiling. I'm very informed and my opinions are valid. -- A Facebooker whom I shall not name, for obvious reasons.

Raising taxes creates jobs!

At least that is the clear implication of what Democrat Rep. Bill Pascrell (D.-NJ) said in an interview in the last half hour. Interviewed live on FNC, the Congressman rather harshly criticized the Republicans for proposing only spending cuts as a factor in raising the debt ceiling ("a term that most people outside of Washington have probably never heard of before," remember).

Spending cuts alone, he insisted, will kill jobs, while - track this carefully now - spending cuts plus "revenue enhancements" (read: new taxes) will protect jobs.

Yes, he actually said that.

Now, for discussion's sake, I will stipulate that federal spending cuts might somehow raise unemployment. Certainly, if the cuts led to layoffs of federal employees those people would be unemployed, as 4,000 FAA employees found themselves just a few days ago. But I'll further stipulate that reductions in federal contracting with private companies could lead to layoffs there, too, and so on. With almost 20 percent of Americans receiving federal welfare payments and almost 30 percent altogether receiving federal money for at least part of the income, it's hard to see how deep spending cuts could not affect employment somehow.

But even if Rep. Pascrell is correct on the one hand, it is simply a non sequitur that he is correct on the other. Spending cuts will remove money from the economy and this, presumably, is why Pascrell says cuts will cost jobs. But does he not understand that raising taxes also removes money from the economy? Apparently not - for to his party, only "the wealthy" are tax worthy, and they have so much money that they simply spend it frivolously and uselessly. That's why the president rants against corporate jet deductions, oblivious to the fact that non-commercial aviation is a huge part of the national economy and creates jobs where airline hubs cannot, as Doug Mataconis pointed out in, "The Misplaced Attack on Private Jets," where commenter SteveP explained why:

I was a rigger on luxury yachts when the yacht tax was implemented. The wealthy people who were the supposed targets of the tax simply put off buying new toys. Those of us who built and maintained the yachts lost our homes. Even those that didn’t lose their homes paid a high price for the Democrats’ class warfare. That’s always the way it is. The leftist’s targets aren’t the ones who get hurt. It’s the middle class working people who provide services to the wealthy that get screwed.

Laying all that side, though, there is another fallacy in Rep. Pascrell's argument. Even ifr we stipulate (laying all reason and empirical data aside as well) that spending cuts cost jobs while tax rises save them, not any Democrat in either house has proposed revenue enhancements raising taxes more than the amount of the spending cuts, meaning that whether taxes are raised or not, there will still be net spending cuts.

So how can cutting spending by, say, $4 trillion over 10 years with no new taxes be catastrophic for workers, but offsetting those cuts by $1.4 trillion in new taxes - so that the net cut is $2.6 trillion - be the promised land?

Fact is, though, that not even Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid is insisting on new taxes anymore, although he does want to include $1 trillion already slated to be cut as part of his proposed $2.7 trillion cut, which Sen. Mitch McConnell accurately called a gimmick since that $1 trillion is already in the baseline.

Richard A. Epstein pointedly observes,

Distressingly, neither the president nor the Democrats offer any rigorous account of the optimal level of tax progressivity. Rather, the president seems to think that no matter how high the current marginal tax rates, the correct social policy is to move them upward.

For Pascrell and almost all his party, the rule is always so very simple: spending cuts bad, tax increases good, and that's that. It's all part and parcel of the progressivists' religion of our day.

If we are that disengaged, why does he think we're listening to him?

According to President Obama, Americans are so uninterested by or disengaged with the financial issues of our country that, he said last night,

[W]hat makes today’s stalemate so dangerous is that it has been tied to something known as the debt ceiling – a term that most people outside of Washington have probably never heard of before.

"Debt Ceiling" debates and issues have been the nearly non-stop topic of news coverage for weeks on end now, so much so that for awhile I thought that Debt Ceiling might have been an unusual name of a blonde college gal gone missing on a Caribbean island.

But no matter - in Obamaland, we are not paying enough attention to matters political even to have heard the term, "debt ceiling," and so we thankfully listen to this president pedantically explain it.

But I have to wonder - if we really are that tuned out to matters Washingtonian, then why would Obama expect that any of us would even turn on the TV to hear him talk?

Just sayin' ... .

Think Quarterly - 02 Innovation (UK Edition)

Open publication - Free publishing - More google

Essence in building a business (product)

" 2 Eases, 2 Rights and 2 Ons "



       Ease to build
              Ease to use
       Right price
              Right .....
       On place
              On time








.

Cellphones get smart, but so do hackers

In today's Sunday Times, there's an article titled "Cellphones get smart, but so do hackers".

Smartphones bring the world to our fingertips as these can access the internet. Users can download games and other applications but this potentially opens the door for attack. Such cellphones can be easily bugged by a hacker sneaking in programs called spyware. The smart phone user may be unaware of it but such spyware can capture all of the user's incoming and outgoing phone calls, texts and email messages. It can even remotely turn on a phone's microphone to listen to a user's surroundings (without any call being made).

The most common way to to remotely plant spyware is to 'social engineer' the victim into installing the spyware. Scammers can dupe victims into installing a virus on their smartphones by pretending to be a legitimate contact, be it a bank or friend, in an email or text message. Scammers typically infect the smartphones via bogus text messages purportedly from a phone user's bank. The spyware poses as an online banking application. Once installed, it sniffs all incoming messages, including one-time passwords for authenticating banking transactions.

The following note was disseminated to all staff recently and serves as a reminder for compliance:

Vulnerabilities of Smartphones

Recent security studies on smartphones have revealed a host of vulnerabilities associated with their usage. In fact, with Internet compatibility, cases of trojanised smartphones will increase and smartphones risk potentially becoming an even bigger target for hackers than computers.

Smartphones built on “open” programming platforms and operating systems (OS) fundamentally designed to accept applications (apps) have also resulted in a trade-off on the level of control over what these apps are doing in the background. Many apps available nowadays can even operate below or at the OS level rendering them almost "invisible" to the users. These include the likes of tracking and surveillance apps which infringe our privacy and pose security threats. "Utilities" that are able to perform lower level functionalities with dubious modular programming codes can also be integrated into "free apps" without the users' knowledge.

Currently, smartphones without image capturing capabilities are allowed to be brought into camps and premises provided they are not used to process classified information higher than Restricted and are not connected to any office networks. In addition to its computing capabilities, smartphones have recording functions as well.

Whilst recording devices are not carried into meetings, these smartphones are! Trojanised smartphones, when remotely activated without the knowledge of the user, can potentially compromise all conversations in the vicinity of the device. Accidental auto dials or enabling auto-answer can inadvertently breach security during classified meetings/discussions. Built-in GPS capabilities can track movement, coupled with information aggregation, can potentially result in a compromise of locations and operations. Common to all mobile phones, any loss, theft or seizure of smartphones will likewise result in a compromise of important information such as, official contacts, schedules, text messages etc. residing within










.

Have Republicans won debt negotiations?

Ezra Klein says so explicitly: Wonkbook: Republicans have won. But can they stop there?

We don't yet know what the final deal to raise the debt ceiling will be. But now that Harry Reid is developing a proposal with $2.7 trillion in cuts and nothing in revenues, it's a safe bet that it won't include any tax increases. Which means that whether Republicans realize it or not, they've won. The question now is whether they can stop.

The AP says that Reid and Boehner are now prepared to move ahead and place this deal, or something very close, on President's Obama's desk. Earlier today the WashTimes reported that Boehner, tired of Obama's never-ending gamesmanship and one-upping, finally told the president, "Congress writes the laws and you get to decide what you want to sign."

It will be interesting to see whether Obama signs a bill on his desk that was supported, however grudgingly, by Congressional and Senate leaders of his own party if it does not include tax increases, which have been Obama's line in the sand from the beginning.

Why Gold Won't Soon Crash - Yahoo! Singapore Finance

http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Why-Gold-Wont-Soon-wallstreet-250642355.html?x=0

ebooks is what is hot now to buy

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/another-retailer-bites-dust-borders-doomed-amazon-deal-163606690.html

There were many missteps that caused this business to fail from holding too much debt, opening too many stores as well as jumping into the e-reader business to late. But above all, there was one "disastrous move" that put the final nail in Borders' coffin, says retail expert Howard Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Associates.

"I think the biggest thing Borders did wrong is when they turned over their online business to Amazon," Davidowitz tells The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task and Breakout's Jeff Macke in the accompanying interview. "That move finished them off because they gave away the future."

MUTFAK PASTASI

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#10

 FOLLOW UP, REINFORCING A POSITIVE , LASTING IMPRESSION

What to Do after the interview: An insider's View
After the interview, remind the interviewer who you are by writing a brief note---even if it is just a brief e-mail-- that makes reference to some of the things you spoke about with the interviewer. Express your appreciation for their time, and mention that you greatly enjoyed getting to meet them. I have received many responses from interviewers letting me know they really appreciated it when I sent them notes after the interviewer. It adds a nice touch.

Top Ten Interview Dos
1-Create a great first impression
2-Do your homework about the company,industry, job offered, and interviewer
3-Use the resume as an effective interviewing tool.
4-Demonstrate a fit through your responses to key questions
5-Shape the interview
6-Address concerns about clear weaknesses effectively
7-Explain any periods of unemployment well
8-Demonstrate the business relevance of your experience and education ( if you are a nontraditional candidate)
9-End your interview excellently with wonderful closing comments or well-considered questions
10-Follow up your interview so as to reinforce a lasting, positive impression.

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#9

END YOUR INTERVIEW EXCELLENTLY

End-of-Interview Chance to Discuss your record
Often , in bringing an interview to a conclusion, the interviewer asks you whether there is anything else you'd ike to discuss about your record. Many of the ways you can approach this opportunity will enable you to take advantage of this chance to end the interview with a lasting , positive impression. You should use this question as an opportunity to emphasize your winning attributes, relevant skills, and record of success.

Questions to Ask

1-What have you most enjoyed about working for this company?
2-How is your company seeking to grow?
3-How is this division seeking to grow?
4-How would you describe your firm's culture?
5-What are the most important divisional goals at this time?
6-What are the most important corporate goal at this time?
7-What makes this company particularly good at what it does?
8-How does the work of this department fit with the overall goals of the company?
9-What do you foresee as the biggest changes to your service or product lines in the future?
10-Who do the leaders of this department report too?
11-Where does the company see itself in five years?

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#8

DEMONSTRATE BUSINESS RELEVANCE IF YOU'ARE A NONTRADITIONAL HIRE

Transferable Skills : Making a Nontraditional Background Relevant

The concept of transferable skills is particularly important for nontraditional job seekers who must demonstrate that their education and work experience have given them skills that - though used in a totally different context before--can be used or adapted in the new environment to enable the candidate to succeed in the workplace. To demonstrate how a candidate with a nontraditional background often picks up business-relevant experiences, consider these dimensions of work experience, which provide transferable skills you might employ whether you
are working in the health care industry or in a computer consulting company:

Performing analysis
Performing math computations
Problem solving
Delivering presentations
Prioritizing tasks
Participating in high-performing teams
Leading teams
Setting goals
Communicating goals
Delegating tasks
Managing work flow
Setting clear deadlines
Coaching team members
Communicating effectively with superiors
Communicating effectively with peers
Communicating effectively with clients
Developing business plans
|Securing buy-in for a project
Marketing a project
Implementing change


TIPS FOR NONTRADITIONAL CANDIDATES IN A MAINSTREAM BUSINESS INTERVIEW


Avoid speaking in highly technical terms if you are not interviewing for  a technical job.
Communicate your skills in business-relevant terms, focusing on transferable skills
Study key business sources to learn basic business principles
Demonstrate a clear willingness to learn in new environment and underscore adaptability
Appear versed in basic business etiquette such as how to dress and whether to take notes
Take courses or seminars when possible to learn business principles
Demonstrate a clear understanding of the industry and position you are applying for.
Articulate clear and compelling reasons for changing your profession or direction
Become familiar with professionals who have made similar career changes to the one you seek to make, and cite their success as examples if appropriate.

Emphasize how your uniqueness can add to the company.

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#7

PRESENT A STRONG EXPLANATION IF YOU'VE BEEN OUT OF WORK


How to deal with periods of unemployment ? 

if you were out of for only a couple of months, normally you do not need to explain this during an interview . The interviewer will often be content to hear that you took time to assess where you hoped
to go with your career, research companies and job opportunities, and prepare to begin interviewing.

However, if you have been out of work for a longer period of time-- more than four months, for instance--you are best off if you can state to your interviewer that you are doing more with that time than searching for a job. An employer wants to see that you were not content to sit idle but took the initiative to use the time off as a tremendous opportunity. Ways to do this include expanding your professional qualifications through certifications, expanding your knowledge base , deepening your professional experiences or your ideas about your long-term goals, and broadening your worldview through travel.


You've been fired : now What?

your own consulting company: Use the time to run your own business. even if on a pro bono(unpaid) basis, showing your desire to apply and stretch your skills.

More credentials : Use the time to enhance your expertise and credentials through certifications or licenses.

Deeper expertise : Use the time to refine your knowledge through online or extension courses.

Long-term goals :  Use the time to conduct research into your desired long-term goals.

Travel : Use the time to travel and experience other cultures.

Community Service : Use the time in community service , to enhance the nonwork aspects of your resume.

Specific Responses if you were Laid off 

keep several issues in mind when responding to questions about why you were laid off. The greatest concern your potential new employer will have is whether your termination reflected poor performance on your part. If you were a lazy or irresponsible worker, your new employer will be more hesitant to hire you. So, if you were not laid off because of performance issues, you should make that clear.That is , if you were laid off.



How to Address Questions About Your Termination If you were downsized

Don't be defensive
Emphasize the benefits of what you learned at your job before you were laid off
Emphasize any good performance reviews you received
if possible, mention that you have taken the initiative during your time off to deepen your skills through
courses of certifications or to conduct research into your longer-term career goals.

If your company Went Bankrupt

Our Company was a very dynamic one, and I felt honored to be chosen as one of ten
employees of this start-up. So many things went right: We developed a novel idea, we constructed
an outstanding business plan, and we brainstormed effectively as  a team to determine how best to implement our strategy. Everything was going relatively smoothly, but then we hit the rough waters of the recessions.


Funding everywhere seemed to dry up as investors became much more cautious. We miscalculated how much money we would have available for our marketing campaigns, and this proved to be a notable mistake.
Our otherwise sound marketing plan simply could not be implemented successfully on 40 percent of the funds we had expected to draw on. Without our planned marketing campaigns, our company did not grow our client base adequately , and soon we could not meet our financial obligations. It was a difficult and disappointing experience to close down the company, but I have learned a  great deal about putting together a great business plan and developing contingency plans for what to do if funding evaporates. Unfortunately, in my former company, we did not have a contingency plan in place. But i have those valuable experiences now to draw on in my next  job.

Kraft Foods Easy Eats - Chicken, Broccoli, & Potato Divan

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#6

ADDRESS CLEAR WEAKNESS (WITHOUT APOLOGIZING)

Poor Grades in a few Classes (Case)
Yes, my GPA was low during my first two years of college. At that time, I was adjusting to the new college environment and trying to learn to balance the demands of my schoolwork with my part-time job.But i was not one to give up prematurely. I was determined to make the adjustment and develop the skills and time management abilities that could enable me to eventually excel in college. Once i became more adjusted to the new environment and challenges, i focused my energies , and my grades improved dramatically. In my last two years, you will note that earned a B+ average in the advanced courses I was taking, and i also began to distinguish myself in campus politics. My classmates elected me to the student government, which was a tremendous honor. I am hoping that you will note how much my grades improved in last two years and that you will see the notable improvement in my overall record during those last years as signs of my determination to meet and overcome challenges. My last two years in college are much more accurate indicators of my future success than the first two years were.

Consider next the situation of Sarah, who was unfocused throughout her entire college career.


Yes, my GPA is low. Unfortunately, when i attended college, I was not very focused on my studies. I viewed college as a time to explore different ideas and interests. I became involved  in many clubs and made significant contributions to several , including one involved with the homeless. It was only after I left college and entered the work world that i realized i had made such a mistake in neglecting my studies. Once I found a job that captured my interests, I focused mu energies and excelled. I am hoping that you will therefore consider my record since college, which reflects much more accurately my commitment and helping our client base to grow. My reviews have been excellent, and i was promoted just last year.

Poor Standardized-Test Results(Case)

Yes, my standardized-test score is low. This is not an indication of my lack of motivation or my lack of preparation for the exam. I spent months preparing, but I have  never been a strong standardized test taker. Luckily, my inability to score well on such exams did not deter me from gaining admission to an excellent college, and you can see how I distinguised myself in college with a high GPA. I hope that you can feel assured of my ability to handle quantitative tasks, given my performance at my last job, which included working with financial statements and complex data sets, my performance ratings were always in the highest category also, which indicates that I mastered the key quantitative skills needed.


Disciplinary  Issues(Case)


The biggest mistake I have made in my life was engagin in dishonest behavior on that exam. It was foolish, and there is no excuse for it. During the year i was away from college as a result of that choice, I took the time
to really do some thinking about my values, my ambitions, and how i would need to change in order to do something meaningful with my talents. During that year, i began to mentor young people who were having difficulty . i found it rewarding be able to share my experiences--positive and negative--- in ways that could help others avoid the mistake I made in college. I have continued that work, and I intend to continue it in the future.

When I returned to school the next year, i  felt like a new person. I went to the professor whose class i was in when i made my mistake, and i apologized. He was impressed with my turnaround and even allowed me to reenroll in his class. I received a strong grade, as you can see. After returning to school , my grades were high.This experience turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to learn and change, and I carry with me the strong ethical values that have enabled me to succeed since that time.

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#5

SHAPE THE INTERVIEW WITH RESPONSES TO OPEN-ENDED AND TURNAROUND
QUESTIONS


Addressing Open-Ended Questions Effectively

Use the question to paint a picture of your winning three or four qualities- the ones that will demonstrate
a match between your qualities and those of the ideal candidate.

Use the question to move straight to the strengths that distinguish you--the skills and work experience that
show you are highly qualified for the job.

Use Open-Ended Questions to Paint a Picture of Yourself


I am a very goal-oriented person with a passion for new ideas and desire to achieve excellent outcomes in all that i do. I have demonstrated my commitment to excellence in many ways. For instance , when I attended the
university of Chicago, I earned a B+ average in a very difficult major, and i graduated with honors. I was recruited by a leading computer company in our city, and my experience there reinforced my passion for new ideas. My innovation and contributions resulted in three promotions in four years and an award of "Employee of the year" last year. I now have a very valuable skills set and am ready to move to the next level of my career, working as a manager. That is why I have approached your computer consulting company. I believe this is my ideal company and job position.

Greatest Failure Questions : What to Avoid
1-A Failure that is too recent
2-An example that was financially costly to your employer
3-An example that cost your employer a client or hurt your employer's reputation.
4-A failure that is central to your current work
5-A failure that reflects a weakness in the skills you need to use excellently to succeed in your potential new job.
6-An example where you cannot elaborate on what you learned
7-An example where you cannot cite another example of when you dealt with a similar situation and succeeded.

Greatest Failure : Sample Approach

• Spend only a small amount of your response addressing your failure
• Talk about the lessons you have learned
• Spend the remainder of your time montioning an example of when you succeeded by applying the lessons you learned from the failure you have spoken about.

Greatest Weakness Questions : What to Avoid

• A Weakness that resulted in a bad outcome that proved financially costly to your employer
• A weakness that resulted in a bad outcome that cost your employer a client or hurt your employer's reputation
• A weakness that indicates a problem using the skills you will need to excel in your potential new job
• A weakness that indicates a significant skill needed for the central work in your current job
• An example upon which you cannot elaborate to describe how you are productively addressing and strengthening that weakness.

Having trouble switching tasks

Potty training attempt #1 (May)

After a few weeks of talking it up, I decide, on a whim, to bring the potty-chair up to the main level.  Faith excitedly jumps on it.  Sits/tries for 3.5 minutes and begins yelling “I can’t!  It’th too hard!”  She gets off crying.

Over the next 2-3 days, I bring it up and she gets very upset, insisting “I NOT try it.  It’th too hard!”

I come down one morning and don’t see the potty chair.  I ask around.  Faith, says matter-of-factly, “I took it back to the bathement, because I HATE it!”

Potty training attempt #2 (July)

After reading a particularly inspiring potty-training book from the library, Faith decides she’s a teensy bit interested in being like Ashley (the main character) so we retrieve the potty chair from the basement again.

But not really.  After gently cajoling to sit on the potty, try on the gorgeous Dora panties, watch Dad sit on the potty-chair, etc., Faith is in intractable tears.

About 30 minutes after we switch activities, we notice Faith hoisting the potty-chair and heading down the stairs with it “Becauthe I don’t like it!” 

What’s that phrase again? "No one goes to kindergarten in diapers”?  Something like that?

MyFM 13th Anniversary Birthday Bash

i'm there during "MY FM台庆之万众13盛世天下"


Thanks to Jess Yeoh for the surprised Free Gift :). the event held in Bukit Jalil Stadium Putra. let go there!


here's the Poster for the event and the seat layout, i don't have a seat.. caused is a ROCK ZONE ticket. btw... there is a SUPER ROCK ZONE in front ours Rock Zone.


we're here, almost clock in 8PM. and the stadium is so crowded.

look at the stage. that's where the event held later. btw. the stage decoration is nicely done :)


The Heat is rising. the event is about to start.


someone is coming out form the stage. it's the 10 Brothers of wonder.
千里眼（Jack Lim 林德荣饰演）
顺风耳（Jeff 陈浩然饰演）
大力三（Mei Yan 颜薇恩饰演）
奀皮四（Phoebe 菲比饰演）
飞天五（Vivian 卓卉勤饰演）
铁头六（Royce陈志康饰演）
高脚七（Wan Wai Fun 尹匯雰饰演）
遁地八（Jason 贾森饰演）
大口九（Jym 庄靖毅饰演）
大喊十（Wayne 饰演）.


all famous MyFM DJ's. Ah Beng, Ah Lian also there. Ah Beng is Taiko Somemore.


out of suddenly.. Ah Beng a.k.a Lam Dak Weng end up in the middle air... and beat start hitting the Drum in the middle Air. and the Drum Session begins


Drums Session performed by 10 Brothers of wonder. myFM DJ's


And some games between them.winner get to smash out tennis ball with prizes. who ever catch the ball can redeem something form them






Geraldine 颜慧萍




林凡


Yen-J 严爵,


Jack Lam said 張棟樑Nicholas Teo is here... and then. showing everyone Nicholas Teo cardboard. make everyone though there is a surprised. just to deliver his message to everyone.


Kenji 吴克群 from taiwan is here too. and he's last singer of the day.


look at that. Kenji sure have lot's of fans in this hall.



Artists/Celebrities who was invited to this event includes:
元秋,元华,AK、Kenji吴克羣,Yen-J 严爵,张芸京,Linda 廖语晴,Derrick 何维健,Freya 林凡,Yise 罗忆诗,Amy 王明丽,东于哲,
Astro Talent Quest 新秀大赛2010 Top 3 ,Stephanie 刘佩芯,Fyone 陈慧莹
Astro Talent Quest 新秀大赛2011 Champion 冠军 Geraldine颜慧萍.


That's my post for MyFm Birthday Bash 2011. Happy birthday myFm

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#4DEMO

DEMONSTRATE A FIT THROUGH YOUR RESPONSES  TO KEY QUESTIONS

Winning Attributes Recruiters Look For
Goal-oriented
Hardworking
Dedicated
Determined
Focused
Motivated
Detail-oriented
Creative
Innovative
Analytical
Organized
Energetic
Articulate
Ethical
Trustworthy
Cooperative
One to take Charge
Directed

Relevance of Education : Ten Useful Types of Skills

1-Analytical skills
2-Problem-solving skills
3-Teamwork skills
4-Writing skills
5-Presentation skills
6-Mathematical skills
7-Computing skills
8-Research skills
9-Teaching skills
10-Persuasion skills

How to interview like a top MBA #Book Summary#3

USE YOUR RESUME AS AN EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWING TOOL

Use your Resume to Demonstrate a match


1-Create the interviewer's Checklist. Use the job description and your understanding of the available position to assess the job requirements and profile of an ideal candidate.




2-Assess your record in three dimensions. these are work ,experience, education, and extracurricular activities.






3-Highlight relevant experience. Use the interviewer's checklist to prune your resume


4-Prioritize. Use the interviewer's checklist to strategically structure your content.


5-Phrase effectively.  Phrasing matters! Use action words, "fit phrases" (that demonstrate a match between your qualifications and those of the ideal candidate) , and " leadership language" to describe your experience.


6-Final Check. Complete a final check to avoid common resume mistakes.






Sample Assessment of Job requirements


Part A
Top Five Responsibilities
Provide strategic advice to high-technology companies
Provide organizational design advice to high-technology companies
Manage teamwork of junior associates
Facilitate work between team and client
Serve as support for Vice President's work


Associated Tasks
Oversee research and compilation of data about challenges faced by high technology clients.

Stay abreast of trends affecting the high-technology sector
Set team goals, assign team tasks, review work products of team members
Mentor junior team members
Meet with Vice president to keep him/her abreast of team activities and progress
Meet with client to ensure client's needs are met and to address client's concerns
Meet with client to coordinate collection of data or to present findings

Associated Skills/Knowledge
Research skills
Familiarity with data resources
Familiarity with high-technology concerns
Analytical skills
Team participation skills
Team leadership skills
Team management skills
Client management skills
Presentation skills


Sample Profiling the Ideal Candidate
Ideal Work experience

Experience managing teams
Experience participating in teams
Experience coaching team members
Client management experience
Experience collecting , sifting through, and assessing of data
Experience formulating recommendations
Experience making presentations to clients
Experience working as liaison between upper management and teams

Ideal Education
MBA degree, undergraduate degree in sciences or engineering (major relevant to high technology)
Education that included courses requiring collection and analysis of data
Education that included participation in team projects.


Ideal Skills/Knowledge
Research skills
Analytical skills
Familiarity  with data resources and high-technology concerns
Team participation skills
Team leadership skills
Time management skills
Client management skills
Presentation skills


Ideal Personal Attributes
Organized
Motivated
Good communicator
Good problem solver
Goal oriented
Innovative
Cooperative
Good team player/leader

Ideal Short- or Long-Term Career Goals
Short-term : Desire to help high-technology companies perform excellently and continue to
innovate

Long-term : No particular requirement but perhaps a desire to help lead the interviewing company's high-technology practice

Top Ten Resume Mistakes

Resume has too many job listings
Resume lacks strategic arrangement of information : candidate's
qualifications for available job not clear or prioritized
Resume has too many bullet points per job listings- not adequately streamlined
Resume lacks sense of direction or indicated progression of skills
Resume lacks action verbs
Resume contains typographical errors(typos)
Resume contains exaggerated information
Resume lacks consistent formatting
Resume does not explain missing years
Resume is not professionally printed.

Top Ten Resume Dos
Elaborate in greater length about jobs that are most relevant to the position for which you are applying.
Strategically arrange information, emphasizing your relevant skills and knowledge.
Keep bullet points to five or six per job listing
Show a progression of  skills over time
Use leadership language and action words
Do not exaggerate qualifications
Check your resume for typos or incorrect information
Account for any missing years somewhere on the resume
Use consistent formatting
Have your resume professionally or laser printed

HDB InfoWEB: Family Season Parking Ticket (FSPT) : Car Park Facilities

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10327p.nsf/w/CarPark1FSPT?OpenDocument

What Are Your Dreams?

http://www.billycoxinternational.com/blog/what-are-your-dreams/


You must regain your passion for your dreams and goals, become a possibility thinker, and unlock the potential that lies hidden within you. And, you must be willing to change. If you want your life to change, you have to change. If you keep doing the same things, in the same way, you will get the same results, and you’ll have the same life that you have now. If that’s OK with you, no problem. If it’s not okay – if you want more for your life than what you have and where you are right now – then make a decision to change.

Why Hope?

http://www.billycoxinternational.com/blog/why-hope/

When People Sense Victory:
They sacrifice to succeed.
They look for ways to win.
They become energized.
They follow the game plan.
They help other team members.

When People Sense Defeat:
They give us as little as possible.
They look for excuses.
They become tired.
They forsake the game plan.
They hurt others.

The Messenger Really Matters

http://www.hrbartender.com/2011/employee/the-messenger-really-matters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HrBartender+%28hr+bartender%29

“It’s the message that is important, not the messenger.”

While I agree the message is important, the messenger is equallyimportant.  In fact, for some situations, the person who delivers the message can change the entire dynamic.  Here’s an example:

A company is struggling with their revenues.  The sales forecast isn’t good.  The organization must do a significant layoff to survive:

Can a representative from an outplacement firm deliver the message?  Sure they can.  Most people will call the company insensitive for doing such a thing.

7 Types of Power in the Workplace

http://www.hrbartender.com/2010/training/7-types-of-power-in-the-workplace/

• Coercive power is associated with people who are in a position to punish others. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them.

• Connection power is based upon who you know.  This person knows, and has the ear of, other powerful people within the organization.

• Expert power comes from a person’s expertise (duh!).  This is commonly a person with an acclaimed skill or accomplishment.

• A person who has access to valuable or important information possesses informational power.

• Legitimate power comes from the position a person holds.  This is related to a person’s title and job responsibilities.  You might also hear this referred to as positional power.

• People who are well-liked and respected can have referent power.

• Reward power is based upon a person’s ability to bestow rewards.  Those rewards might come in the form of job assignments, schedules, pay or benefits.

Wise Leadership

http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2011/06/wise-leadership.html

Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, authors of the HBR article "The Wise Leader," explain how the best executives strive for the common good.

Think like an innovator

http://blogs.hbr.org/video/2011/07/think-like-an-innovator.html


Jeff Dyer, professor at Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Management and coauthor ofThe Innovator's DNA, outlines the four ways leaders come up with their great ideas.





Five Skills of Distruptive Innovator:


1-encourage questions
2-create time to observe
3-sponsor networking opportunities
4-run experiments
5-Associate