English Team at the World Cup 2010

I am terribly sad for the English fans at the World Cup 2010. Judging from the way how it is at the moment, the English team is most probably a match away from being relegated and they have to pack their bags and come home. I do not wish that day will come. We will know about the result when England takes onboard Slovenia.

At the moment, the English coach and Rooney is having a verbal fight and everyone is not happy. There is no unity in the camp! Where is the spirit of the four lions? Where is it at the moment? They must pull things together irrespective of what the fans are thinking about them. The most important thing to do right now is to focus on their next game. Stop wasting time!!!

Exchange Rates

I'm so shocked to see that the exchange rates between the Malaysian Ringgit, Singapore Dollar, the British Pound and the US Dollar have changed dramatically!!!

At the moment, both the British Pound and the US Dollars have taken heavy beating over the exchange rates. Presently, one pound equals to only RM 5.08. Previously, you would expect the Pound to hover around RM 6.50. It goes the same to the US Dollars. The US Dollar is being traded at RM 3.38 which is significantly lower than the usual RM 3.80.

The Singapore Dollar is also gaining ground. Presently, a Singapore Dollar can fetch around S$ 1.40! That is a record though... One British Pound can only receive around S$ 2.11 which is significantly lower than the usual S$ 3.23.

When is the Euro zone going to pick up from the last recession?

Eureka!!!

Yes! Finally! NASA has confirmed that the probe which they have sent came back with a positive result - There's water on the moon!!! I'm estatic! This is one step for humans to be able to live on the moon!!! I'm overjoyed!

If you want to know more about it, point your browser here and read all about it!

Batang Kali massacre

I have been doing some research into the latest cases of declassified files on the internet and stumble upon the Batang Kali massacre. It seems that the secret documents have been made not secret anymore so it may lead to a sole survivor of the bloodiest massacre at the start of the British occupation in Malaya back in 1948 to begin some proceedings against the government.

Well, good luck to Tham Yong. I am sure that she will be told of what really happened when her fiance died while fleeing from a group of Scots Guard. It reminds me of the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) and USS Thresher (SSN-593) where both of them were declared lost at sea. No official statements were made as to why they were lost at sea. Family and loved ones must be anxious to know what really went wrong with those two nuclear powered submarines. As the details are classfied, it will be a long time since those people who wants to know what happened to the crew of both submarines.

Swine Flu

It is deemed to be a major outbreak. Yes, I am talking about swine flu. You would have read all about it as it originated from Mexico. Now, the flu virus could be found across the United States of America, New Zealand, Australia, UK and Spain. One important thing is to stay indoors if possible and always wash your hands and if possible, stay away from any pork consumption.

Somali Pirates

When are you an outlaw in the eye of everyone, what have you got to redeem about yourself? I am talking about the Somali Pirates. Pirates are outlaw. They steal, rob and hold people ransom for money. It is more like a modern day Robin Hood but pirates are not modern day Robin Hood. They feed on greed and seek to destroy every single good thing a person can offer.

Personally, I think pirates should be rehabilitated to do something much more useful - be a good citizen. There is no joy in holding people for ransom except for having tons of money as a result of kidnapping. Do you think thos Somali Pirates should be handled with care? I think they should be re-educated.

Obama - Mac User!!!

I could not agree more with the president-elect on his preferred choice - an Apple iMac! He likes Apple compared to PC/Microsoft. I think what is important is that he seems to be the alternative to many of us. I have to say that I might start using Mac again after all these years. I have been a fan of the IBM compatible for many years. I think it might be a time whereby I should start dealing with Mac, rather than PC.

You can read all about the goodness of a Mac from a Mac user. Will people be able to convert me from PC to Mac? I think people might be able to do so. I am still using a seven years old laptop made by Compaq and it runs on a p4-m 2.2Ghz which I have upgraded from 1.4Ghz. Just took everything apart including the casing to give it a good thorough clean up before I change the cpu. I then employ a new layer of themal paste onto the cpu and also the graphics card chip before sealing it. Now, the fan is running as before (but cooler although I have employed a better cpu on it).

Wait, what would you have on a Mac which you can't get it on a PC? Quietness. That would be sufficient to swing you across to the Apple camp. Oh yes, another thing - portability... I was using an Apple Macbook 2.0ghz (black colour) and the battery survived three hours (I did watch a movie and surf the internet on my way to London with it). It is so light and very suitable for people like me (I don't like the weight). However, it is not so sweet, certainly not like a bed of roses. You can't simply just remove the cpu and change the cpu on the macbook. You can upgrade the memory but it requires some time for you to do it and other nitty-gritty things.

Anyway, I might decide to change fro my good old faithful - The Compaq Presario 2800 to a Macbook in a year's time. I don't mind using 13.3" compared to 15". The screen is going to be smaller but never mind about it. Maybe I might want to stick with this old faithful until it dies off... in a few year's time. I gave it's life back when I change the rechargable 4400mah battery, change the cd-rw to dvd combo, 2GB of memory instead of 768MB. Oh yes, the difference in power could be seen clearly but Mac is always better than it. I've also bought a new hard drive. The original hard drive was 20GB but now I have a 160GB hard drive. The only thing which annoys me is the noise coming from the fan. As it is a 7 years old fan, it is no way quiet although I have cleaned the fins.

Obama can keep his Blackberry for personal use and he might just get his Mac to be used in his office!!!

CCTV camera in school toilet?

I came across this webpage which states that the school was forced to remove CCTV cameras from school toilets. I don't understand why the headmaster approved such installation. From what I have gathered, the headmaster had no knowledge of it. Well, I am glad that those CCTV cameras are going to be removed before students go to loo during schooling hours.

The question is why have they done so? I don't understand. It is a matter of invasion of privacy. That is pretty ugly from my point of view. I really hope that everything will be alright over there in Devon. That is pretty bad. Oh no...

Economy Slowdown

I have to say that in the wake of the US economy downturn, it has affected other economies too. What I am talking about is that due to the credit crunch in the US, it had let to many job cuts and no new jobs created which is needed to fund the economy. What is happening in the USA is alarming but it can be controlled. What we need is a simple idea - savings.

I believe in savings as it is really useful for rainy days like now. I think what is important is for us to spend wisely and do not fear of the economy downturn in the USA. No doubt that it will affect other countries but we have to have faith in our economy. We do not want panic and also rumours that are spreading around. What is important is to spend wisely. That is the message which I want to tell everybody.

If we do not spend, it will lead to shops being shut because people do not shop for goods any more. We need people to spend their money. At the same time, if there are people who are out there to shop, it will create jobs and more taxes could be collected by the government. This is a chain of events which would see that the government will win in the end. Well, We need to stick to our guns and be wise in choosing whatever that we want.

I am relieved to hear that Bush junior is now coming up with plans and action them. His aim is to provide support for the USA's economy. That is good and I hope that the American economy will recover soon enough. If USA economy were to take a deep dive, some how or rather it will affect other countries too. It is a domino effect. Read my lips, spend wisely and try to save!!!

Promoting Growth

As you have known, the credit crunch in the USA has affected the UK market by little. I am not saying that it has affected the UK market by a large margin but I think it has nontheless affected the UK by a little. We know that banks and building societies have stated that it will be tougher for consumers to buy houses due to the problems that we have in the USA.

We can see that as a result of that credit crunch, house prices are falling fast. It is like a domino effect on the housing market. I am sure that there are many people who would want to buy a house. Unfortunately they could not due to the stricter requirements of the credit facility. As a result, houses could not be sold. In order to sell any house, house prices would have to decrease so that people can take up loans to buy it. Oh well, it is definately a domino effect.

It was stated that the Federal Reserve is going to cut interest rates to promote growth. Question is whether the Bank of England is prepared to do the same to promote growth? Good question, right? We will have to wait and see then. I really hope that the current situation in the UK will improve. Fingers crossed.

Latest report on savings

It is widely reported that homeowners are saving less because they need to fork out more for their mortage as the mortgage rate is rising faster than ever. At such, they also have to attend to the rising cost of household bills apart from other things. That is why they are saving less.

Well, for starters, I think it is best for homeowners to have a deal with finance companies when taking up a mortgage where they should get five years or more in fixed mortgage rate. In that sense, houseowners will not need to worry in the short term if interest rates are rising because they can save more now to counteract with the rising of interest rates in the future after five years or more depending on the terms of the mortgage. Normally, one would be able to get at least five years fixed rate of interest from finance companies.

Savings are important to people because it will help people to fall back on savings just in case they need the money in rainy days. I do encourage people to save as it is crucial. If there is no savings, big trouble then.

The house prices right now in the UK is stable. There were speculations about falling house prices. If house prices are falling, it will be nice for people to start looking for a good house at a bargain price. Good luck!