Yesterday, a few of us from my work place made a trip to dell factory in Prai. That factory produces 80% of the Dell notebook world wide. I am very impress with their supply chain. It is very efficient and no inventory storage that drive cost up, meaning maximize profit at the end of the day. All the notebooks are build to order. A lot of checkpoints, to make sure no missing parts.

Each operator can produce at least 6 units per hour. You do the math to see how many they produce in a day. The factory runs 24×7. All testing on the notebook is automated and softwares are dowloaded in the same way. They have this huge racks, probably 5-6 notebook per rack for this purpose. I notice that the operators who assemble notebook are mostly female. Those in the server lines are male. Probably servers are much more complicated heavier.

Actually Dell does not produce anything, mainly assemble the parts together to make the final product and name it DELL. By the way, if you want to purchase a notebook, order at the end of the quarter. If they run out of the specification you want, they probably bum it up for you to meet the orders. For example, if your notebook has 40G hard disk and they ran out, they probably give you a 60G or next higher in stocks. It doesn’t work all the time, ok, only if you are fortunate enough.

Sorry no pictures for the visit because no camera allowed. However I did take back with me a lot of value added information and a great eye opener. Who knows, I may open up a MELL factory.

P/S I did get some door gift.

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I received this today.

01:02:03 04/05/06

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I am not sure how many have read TheStar yesterday. Starting today, Microsoft will put an annoying pop-up on your screen if you are not using a genuine copy of Microsoft.

Read here:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/4/25/nation/14053230&sec=nation

By the way, I heard it was crack within 24 hours of the first release.

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/28/microsoft_genuine_ad.html

or

other suggestions:

http://earendur.blogspot.com/2006/04/windows-genuine-notification-updates.html

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Yes, it is true. Newspaper published it yesterday.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/4/11/nation/13929587&sec=nation

http://www.kwsp.gov.my/index.php?ch=81&pg=132&ac=6905

So happy withdrawing and quickly get yourself out of debt. The catch is your account II must have a minimal account of 500 to qualify.

If you want to learn more about the paperwork, read this and this.

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I recieved this email today. Hooray can withdraw EPF annually to pay off housing loan. I didn’t find this announcement in EPF website. So is it true? :sc:

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Penang got a second bridge and a monorail.

68. Apart from this, regional growth centres will be identified in several regions to spearhead development. The Southern Johor Economic Region will be developed in a comprehensive and systematic manner. The construction of the Second Penang Bridge will spur growth in nearby areas, including mainland Penang, Kedah and Perak and, will spur economic activities particularly for businesses that benefit from the port facilities and air cargo services

85. A National Commission will be established to regulate the overall public transportation system in the country and a specific commission will be established for the Klang Valley. Integrated transport terminals will be built in Gombak and Bandar Tasik as transit hubs to Kuala Lumpur. The Government will also implement a number of major projects across the country, including the Penang Monorail and the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor.

Read about it here, the transcript.

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Penang is facing a hot weather spell, the newspaper said it will last till 10 more days. It just rained but no help, it is still hot.

I am on MC for 2 days. I woke up with a swollen eye. I couldn’t open it at all. I was very frightened. I went to the doctor.

Doc: What can I do for you?
Me: Eye swollen, yesterday was fine but waked up swollen.
Doc: What happened?
Me: Weather so hot that it melted my contact lens, I guess.

He applied some eye gel and bandaged my eye. Now I am typing with 1 eye bandage like a pirate. I really have to be careful with contact lens. I do clean it everyday but not sure what happened. It’s the hot spell fault!

I am fine, I still can see.

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How come when someone sells insurance to you, they can absolutely be like an angel? Bowing to all your wishes and never saying “No”. The opposite of this is when you try to claim, the customer service officer can really give you a hard time. Don’t ever buy insurance from XIX Company (*name changed, but you get the idea*) because the claim department officers are very unprofessional and the claims policy is ridiculous.

One day my hubby was telling me that my PIL is whining because he cannot claim his hospital bill from the insurance company. You know, elderly people treasure every sen very valuably. He was trying to claim from his company insurance policy because he had the accident when he was working. Apparently he has submitted all his hospital bills to the insurance agent. After a few months, the insurance rejected his claim because of a missing deposit receipt. You know, you have to make a deposit before you can admit to the private hospital, in case you cannot pay.

It is absolutely ridiculous right, in a logical manner that the claim was rejected even though the true copy of the hospital bill is in tact but the deposit receipt is missing. The agent asked PIL to go back to the hospital to issue another but the hospital will never issue another receipt, the best they can do is to certify a copy. The insurance company refuse to accept certify copy. PIL was so upset because he went to the hospital a couple of times. Everyday he complained to us.

I decided to help him out, made a call to the claims department. No one have a definite answer to the claims. The officer asked me to write a letter to appeal. The manager said there is no guarantee the appeal will go through, it depends on the committee.

Me: Why is the deposit receipt so important when you have the actual hospital bill?
Mgr: It is our company policy. *policy to give the customer a hard time* Furthermore, it will prevent the customer to claim from other insurance company.
Me: I am a having a hard time just to claim with the original actual hospital bill from your company. Do you think other insurance company will let me claim using a deposit receipt???!!!
Mgr: *speechless for a few seconds* Please submit an appeal letter.

What a disappointment? I wanted to complain them to Bank Negara. Anyway, I thought of giving the company a chance, draft out an appeal letter for my PIL to sign and send. After a month later, PIL whine again because no news from them. I decided call.

Me: I have sent the letter of appeal a month ago.
Officer: We didn’t receive anything, the computer showed no record. *Excuses*
Me: Can I fax the letter to you?

She gave me the fax number and I faxed it in. After a few more weeks, I called in to check the status else they will probably sit on it. With claims, you have to call in every now and follow through, give them a hard time too.

Officer: The cheque has been issued and has been send to the Penang branch on Feb 12.
Me: My PIL has not heard from the Penang branch.
Officer: You just have to wait for them to call you.
Me: Can I call them?
Officer: If you want, I cannot stop you.
Me: *How RUDE!!!* :wall:

My PIL received the cheque after calling the Penang branch agent. The cheque was RM160 less than the original amount. In the letter, they put “out of goodwill that they have approved the claim” Good will my foot!! :shoot:

Anyway, the whining stops.

*Note, by the way, if any of you have trouble claiming with your insurance company after dealing with them and still negative, you can bring your case to Bank Negara.
Website: http://www.bankinginfo.com.my/index.php?ch=19&pg=31*

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I won 1 big one, 3N SuperStar Virgo ex-Singapore Penang-Phuket Cruise for 2. The prize doesn’t cover seaport tax and flights to & from Singapore. Anyway, it is better than nothing. Any one knows a good budgeted hotel in Singapore?

I have won a couple of SMS Contest before. With SMS Contest, you really have to be careful because a lot of it, is out to get your money. I usually participate if I know I have 70% chance of winning. You also have to see who is sponsoring it, so that you will not be cheated.

So how did I do it? One night I was watching Quickie on 8TV during Chinese New Year One of the advertisements flashed on the screen, a CNY contest to win a cruise. I have a lot of balance on my phone so would like to exchange it for a vacation. I am not a phone person, at one time I had RM600 on my phone. The main purpose of my handphone is for emergency calls or locating my hubby in shopping mall.

With SMS Contest, you need to set a target on how much you willing to invest. For me, at most I wanted to invest was RM200. Actually I used less than that. Anyway, this contest is fairly expensive, RM1 per SMS. With that, you know that not many youths will like to participate in it, which tells me higher chances of winning.

I login into 8TV website to read more about the contest and did some research.

The contest goes like this.

1. You need to register your name, IC before you start. (RM1)
2. You need to send XXX to start the game. (RM1)
3. You need to answer 5 objective questions to score points (RM5)

It doesn’t matter how long you take to answer the questions but you need to get them right to get the points. I check up the Internet for answers. They only have a few set of questions and it will be repeated throughout. By the end of the contest, to win you have to score the highest, they called it rank 1. You can also pay RM 1 to check your ranking. See, it is all out to get your money.

At first, I played till I got 200 point and that got me to top ranking. After a few hours, someone went up to the top again. I felt that there is another person who wants to win this prize. Anyway, I score another 100 points and was top again. Next day, I was second. I scored another 100 points to get back to the top but it was not for long. Ok, I need to strategize and cannot keep this going, else you will drive the other person’s adrenaline up to compete with you. You don’t want to do that in a contest.

The contest end on 12th Feb. On 12th Feb, I check my ranking again, it was still 2. It tells me that I have only 1 competitor. It is not hard to win, right. At 11:15pm, I pump up my score till 500, and check my ranking, it was rank 1, to check how far behind the other person was. I added another 200 points at 11:55pm. It is fairly impossible with 5 mins to score so another 200 points right. At 12:00am, I check my rank, it was number 1. Yeah I won.

Warning, not all SMS contest work like this, so try at your own risk!!!

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After reading ShaolinTiger’s Post in his blog, I took some shot at this game. If you Eat Full Nothing To Do, you can try it. Good for brain exercise. I find that I score better with FireFox browser than IE browser. Not sure why.

After many shots at it, my best time is 26.655s. Tips, move to the left first.

Game URL: http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

How to play: Hold your left mouse button on the red square, move without bumping the blue boxes and the black wall.

My Score:

Have Fun! Don’t play while your boss is around. :good:

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Anyone watch Malaysian Most Beautiful, on 8TV Thursday 9:30pm? I only managed to catch a few episodes and saw lots of cat fights during the first few episodes. After they eliminated a few cats, there was peace. However the show was going nowhere, especially the last week episode. There was a huge controversial where by the best choice by popular vote, name Jue, which is also my favourite was eliminated. I like her when I saw the first episode.

Oh well, it was mostly her fault as she broke the rule of sneaking out to make a phone call to settle some important personal matters. She should have told the judges she wants to make a call but she didn’t. I wonder why she didn’t do so and jeopardize her position in winning. She knew and pretty confidant that she will make it to the top. It took the judges 2 hours to decide to kick her out. I think Jue will have bright future even though she didn’t win this competition. She will be a good host, she has body language, beauty and friendly.

There is one I really dislike, not sure why she was kept. She didn’t get down to do the dirty stuff or avoided it but yet the judge kept her. :snooty:

I felt the show is lacking in substance. For one, the judges never mention why the gals were eliminated and what the gals done that was beautiful to win a prize each week. At least in Apprentice, Donald will give his reason upfront, nothing to hide. For those left behind, I shall not comment further, read it yourself in the forum. If any of those win, I will faint, maybe should change the title to Malaysia Most Ordinary. :wall:

Those who missed it, you can download the shows here: http://www.mostbeautiful.com.my/download.asp

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I was away on business trip in Singapore for a project. It was a rush trip but I enjoyed it. It is really an experience to be in Singapore a week before Christmas. There is the “Commercialise Christmas” feelings in the streets of Singapore. A true eye opener for me. Of course, not forgetting the power of buying at Christmas time. It is just so crazy that people buy loads and loads of gift. I guess it is a way to get the economy going.

I wouldn’t say that things are cheap there after currency conversion, although there were lots of sales going on. I didn’t get anything for myself. I got toys for my children that they enjoyed. I wanted to source for a cheap Avent ISIS pump for some mothers who are breastfeeding but I could not get a cheap one. I bet, during Christmas time, they hiked up the price. There was one departmental store, Robinson at Raffles Place giving away 15% discount store wide. The price of the Avent pump with 2 small bottles was SGD87, with 15% discount is SGD74. Upon returning to office, my colleague told me that there is a free SGD20 vouchers for tourist on Christmas season. If he has given me that information while I was there, I can get the pump for SGD54. Sigh. :wall:

The Orchard Streets were just crowded with people. One thing that I dislike is there are lots of people smoking. Practically the streets were cover with smoke. I saw a couple of teenagers smoking too. At least, the government don’t allow them to smoke in air conditional stores. If I want to breath fresh air, need to pop into an air conditional store.

By the way, most of the hotels were fully booked. I was about to stay in 2 different hotels for a 4 days trip. Fortunately upon check in, the front desk could extend my stay. I stayed in Grand Hyatt. The room size is pretty normal. What I like the most is the Plasma TV and I wish I could take it home.

Surprisingly while I was there, I received a phone call from my credit card company, UOB Bank. Wow, they hunt me down. The officer called to check that I was really in Singapore making all those payment transactions. They did the same when I was in US. They provide outstanding service, even waive my annual fees on the spot, even though it was charged to my statement. If you want good service, go with them.

By the way, my hubby did an excellent job of babysitting my 2 children. He said “No Sweat!” Maybe because we trained the children well, both of them sleep by 9pm. My son was a bit “manja” when I got back. My gal was thrilled to see me, gave me so many hugs. I miss them too.

Happy To Be BACK!

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Air Asia giving 2 millions free flight tickets and now it has 1.5 million left. I managed to book free air tickets to Kuala Lumpur for my family. Go visit www.airasia.com and congest it. Most free flights are available on Tue/Wed/Thurs. If you are fortunate, return flights are on weekends. All you have to pay is taxes and fuel.

Booking Period: 7 – 28 December 2005
Travel Period: 7 February – 10 October 2006

It is advertised all over the papers but everyone thought that it will be difficult to get seats, until your friends get it. Don’t wait, go search for it!!

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I got a cheque from the government, can you believe it? I cannot. Two years ago, I receive a letter from the bank saying my bank account was deactivated because it was untouched for more than 5 years. The money in that account will be transfer to an Unclaimed Funds, a Government body. The reason the money is untouched is because bank service used to be very poor and I don’t have an ATM card for that account. It was open for my payroll transaction for my first company. I never knew I had so much money in that account as my bank book was not updated. Double Whammy!!! :wall:

By the way, I didn’t receive any notice or warning about the deactivation of my account. :doh: Maybe my parents did and threw the letters away. They send it to my parent’s place in KL and I have been relocated to Penang. I only receive the last notification that said my account has been deactivated. Funny, my parents kept that for me.

I asked my aunty to check for me in KL branch, she told me that I have to be in KL to process it and the likelihood of getting the money back is zero. Anyway, I called up my bank in KL to begin the process of claiming the money back. The officer told me to process it in KL. I told him that I was pregnant and cannot travel back to KL. The officer asked me to get the relevant documents and form. I did that and send to the officer by register post. Always remember to make a duplicate copy of what you have submitted. Later you know why. I email them to do follow up. After a while, I sort of forgotten about it until after 1 year passed.

One day, my email chat discussion group of moms was talking about unclaimed money as it was reported in the newspaper. Suddenly I remembered the unclaimed money which I thought I never going to see it ever again. I email the bank customer service to check on the status, giving them all the references. The customer service directed me to another officer. I relay my problem to him and gave him the officer’s name who is working on my case. He told me the officer has resigned. :shoot: The bank doesn’t have any of my posted documents. I have to resend him the documents again. Fortunately I have the duplicate copies which the officer said it is fine. First the officer asked me to fax to them, later he send me a letter stating, he want the original copy. I did what I was told.

Finally the enveloped arrived yesterday and I got the cheque. It is an award for me, for my patience and going through so many red tapes to get my money back which was originally mine. Now should I frame the cheque or should I cash it? :clap:

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Today I was in the Honda Service centre cum sales office. There is this nut head salesman smoking in the air condition premises. Smokes fly all over the contain space. There were children waiting in the service centre too. All of us become secondary smokers. I walk into the manager office to relay this problem. He gave me a blank face and didn’t give me a positive response.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate smokers. I just hate smokers that make other people become secondary smokers, which are more dangerous. I have come across many cases where smokers secretly smoke in air condition premises like the shopping mall, the car park and in public transport.

The government is promoting the “Tak Nak” campaign but not enforcing the public sector to follow strict rules about not smoking areas.

If you know me, I will surely feedback this to Honda and the government bureau. Anyone can give me any more ideas where I can bring this complain to? Please leave the contact and email address.

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Everyone is into Photoshop, let me share a very useful tip that my hubby used, to do the picture above. This is the easiest way to select a person or an item in the picture. You can throw away the magnetic lasso after learning this.

Instruction here: Photoshop Cropping Object

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Giant Hypermart finally landed in Penang. Not sure when will it open but the structure of the hypermart is complete. I will be looking forward to shop there. Hey it is only 5 mins drive away from my home. I heard that this will be the last hypermart approved in the Penang Island. Now we have Tesco, Carrefour (not on the island), Makro and Giant.

Tell me what are the best buy items in Giant Hypermarts? Milk powder? Diapers?

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I hope you will join me for this petition that I received today. How can someone be so cruel to the animal?

If u recall lately in the news that a pup was left to starve to death in a pet shop “WWP” in SS2. The owner disowned the pup coz he had bought a sickly pup, while the pet shop ppl refused to care for him coz they had already sold him off.

And so the poor pup was tied under the stairwell near the fire exit and left to die. How cruel can one get?! It is sad to see a pup in poor health but even more heartbreaking when one is PURPOSELY left to die. Both owner and petshop ppl are at fault and here is a chance to create an awareness that cruelty to pets is a BIG NO NO!.

SPCA needs our support and each one of us fwding this mail and adding ur name to the petition will help. So guys, it’s just a click away to saying “I Care”.

Please sign the SPCA petition at www.spca.org.my. As you may be aware, the SPCA started a petition to the prime minster to raise the cruelty fine from RM200 to a significantly higher fine of around RM10,000.00. The petition, which included the signatures of supporters, was supposed to be handed to the prime minister in October 2004. However, this has not happened, as we only managed to raise 20,000 signatures. Due to the insufficient number of signatures collected during the first phase of this petition, the SPCA is entering a second phase in hope to collect at least 100,000 signatures locally and internationally.

Therefore, we are now entering a phase II stage of the petition whereby we would like you to join our effort for this cause. Please download the petition forms. Kindly photocopy it and distribute it for signatures to be collected. The more names we have, the better.

On behalf of the animals, thank you very much for your support.

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Don’t you hate it? Now blogs are hit by SPAM. I wonder why people will go all the way out to create junks that people do not read. It is like creating more garbage. At the end of the day, who benefit from it? The software company that produce anti spam ware. It is so annoying.

My blogs just attracted SPAM a few weeks back. Initially it was 1 or 2 in a week, slowly increasing to 5 per day. Last week, it was worst, it went up to 10 per day. I decided to put a stop to it.

I upgraded my blog software, Wordpress to 1.5.2 (not sure now whether it is the latest) and install a third party anti-spam ware called SpamKarma2 by DrDave.
(Source: http://unknowngenius.com/blog/wordpress/spam-karma/).

It has been catching spam up to 50 per day and allowed genuine comments to go through. SpamKarma2 only work for Wordpress 1.5.1 and above. If you have an old version, I suggest you upgrade. For this upgrade, it only takes 5 minutes to do it. Remember to backup before changing.

I am not sure whether there is any anti spam ware for blogspot, anyone out there know? I have lots of friends who are using blogspot who wants to throw spam to the garbage bin. If you know of any, please comment.

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