Atom-Smasher

What is Atom-Smasher?

Atom-Smasher or collider consists of a ring of supercooled magnets 17 miles in circumference attached to huge barrel-shaped detectors. The ring, which straddles the French and Swiss border, is buried 330 feet underground.

At full power, two beams of protons will race around the huge ring 11,000 times a second in opposite directions. They will travel in two tubes about the width of fire hoses, speeding through a vacuum that is colder and emptier than outer space.

What it is used for?

Scientists will use the collider to hunt for signs of the invisible "dark matter" and "dark energy" that make up more than 96 percent of the universe.

The theory could resolve many of physics' unanswered questions, but requires about 10 dimensions — far more than the three spatial dimensions our senses experience.

How much data being generated by the collider?

15 petabytes of data, the equivalent of a stack of CDs 12 miles tall which will require a high speed global network of computers to analyze the data.

Read more HERE.

How Would You Cope with Flight Delays?

Fifty-two passengers on a Chinese airliner whose flight was cancelled due to bad weather refused to disembark and instead spent the night on board the plane. The passengers boarded for their 8 p.m. (1:00 a.m. EDT) flight from Beijing to the eastern coastal city of Yantai, but after more than three hours of sitting on the tarmac, the airline cancelled the flight, the Beijing Morning Post said.

They refused to admit the flight delay because they were travelling on a very tight schedule where they have to attend a meeting.

Regardless of their disobedient, the airline crews keep on providing them a usual service by providing food and drinks.

Flight delays are still a problem facing airline industries in China and hopefully the airline can cope with the influx of tourists during the coming Olympic game.

For more story, click HERE.

House

House
Originally uploaded by bealluc

Beautiful sky and nice shot.

What about your opinion on Malaysian Taxi Services?

According to the recent poll carried out on the status of Malaysian Taxi services, the results shows that the services are among the worst in the world.

The survey was carried out by The Expat Magazine which has a monthly circulation of 6,000 copies. The surveys 200-odd respondents, comprising expatriates from 30 countries, gave their opinion about Malaysian taxi service in comparison with 22 other countries.

The most frequent complaint was of overcharging and taxi drivers refusing to take passengers who did not agree to pay a flat rate much higher than the regular fare.

The survey covered five main aspects, namely taxi quality, courtesy of drivers, availability on the street, availability by phone and driver job knowledge.

What about your opinion?

Click HERE to read more.

Railway Bridge

Railway Bridge
Originally uploaded by wanhashim

View of a railway line scaling a mountainous region on the way from Tehran to Mazandran. The railway is still operational and the train will circulate the mountain in order to reach the top so that the gradient of the railway will be manageable and not too step.

Typical Business Scenario

What started as a single stall selling local produce now become an everyday Night Market along a street in Desa Ilmu. Due to the increase in population at Desa Ilmu, the previously single stall has managed a profitable business because he received a lot of customers. It is very convenient to stop by the road side and get locally produce at a very cheap price.

Naturally, other enterpreneurs don't want to miss the opportunities and they too started to get their share of the market. Soon followed by others and as you can see in the picture above that most of them just sitting alongside the road due to oversaturated market to cater for not so many potential customers.

Well, that is a typical scenarios whenever you feel that your business started to be profitable and out of sudden others also wanted to jump in to be profitable. In economic term, the supply and demand will play its role and what does it indicates to you is that you will be back to square one i.e. you are trying to make ends meet. However, at least as a customer, I can get more choice and get a much cheaper price. But for the enterpreneur, they have to move to other locations for a much more greener pasture.

Rainbow

With a correct combination of moisture and good angle, a rainbow suddenly appeared at the horizon. The rainbow was viewed from a newly open hotel in Bayan Baru, B-Suite, located next to Bukit Jambul Complex. Its location is also just a walking distance to a popular Kayu Nasi Kandar. The hotel room is similar to an apartment style hotel room. By the way, it is an 18-storey hotel. The only problem is that there is no Coffee House in the hotel. So your room is for sure does not come with a complementary breakfast.Hopefully, the coffee house will be on their way soon since it is still a brand new hotel.

However, the rainbow disappears as soon as the sun is getting higher in the horizon.


Picture below shows the B-Suite Hotel viewed from Kayu Nasi Kandar Pulau Pinang.

Consider riding an LRT

LRT is becoming popular as a mode of transport due to the increase in fuel price. Is LRT a choice for you?

The answer depends on your own situation. Off course it is not my choice here since there is no LRT available. However, if I do visit KL, I will certainly give it a ride. However, the experience of using LRT is not always pleasing since during peak hour, it is too crowded and all of the acceptable privacy space had been violated. You have to endure the smell, the crowd, etc. during the entire ride.

To make the matter worst, you cannot get taxi services during peak hours when you arrived at the designated station. I cannot understand the taxi driver business plan. Everytime the road is congested during peak hours, they will run away from the customers. Their reason is always traffic jam. Logically, they have to take every opportunities to get customers when other taxi drivers don't want to do that. I don't see that they will be losing anything to transport passenger during peak hours because their taxi runs using meter. The slower the taxi, the higher the figure being spurted out.

prawn

prawn
Originally uploaded by wanhashim

A view of a prawn as a land mark in Kota Semarahan. There is something fishy about the prawn i.e. its colour. I prefer the colour to be red instead of blue. I am not sure whether there is any blue prawn or the prawn will become red after being cooked.

Kayak

Start of the 1000m kayak race held at the UNIMAS lake. The race is part of the intervarsity race held from 14 to 22nd June 2008.

All teams wanted to be a champion

Halfway to the finish line and they look tired.

Almost there.

Team supporters are very anxiuos at the pier watching the final race.

The winner of the 1000m race.

Strong Wind

Just wanted to share an aftermath of a quite unusual strong wind that occurred here in Kota Semarahan early this week. The picture shows the aftermath of the wrath of the mother’s nature. However, the victims are usually only small structures such as the car shade as shown in the picture.

The strong wind was followed by heavy rain that lasted for about half an hour and then the weather was back to normal. I am not sure whether it is part of the monsoon season (unlikely during the middle of the year) or just a typical El-Nino phenomenon disturbing the weather pattern throughout the world currently.

You Can Convert Your Car Into a Hydrogen Fuel Car

Tired of skyroketing fuel price! What about using hydrogen fuel for your car. Read more about what you can do about that possibility.

If that technology is available I think there will be no more wars due to the shortage of fuel, food, etc. Also you will help saving the environment.

read more digg story

7 Innocent Gestures That Can Get You Killed Overseas

It is very easy to offend people from other cultures while you are on holiday or business trips overseas. Unless you learn the ways of the place you're visiting, even the most well-meaning tourist can regularly find his oesophagus stuffed with burning goat.

read more | digg story

Tidal Bore

Tidal bore is a natural phenomenon at Bt Lupar or Lupar River in Sri Aman. Tidal bore occurs due to the rapid rise in water level during the tide. During certain time of the year, the tidal bore is very huge and during that time boat regatta were usually being held annually.

Tidal bore occurs twice a day. Last weekend, the tidal bore occurred at 5 pm in the afternoon and at 8 am in the morning where the following pictures were taken.

As a result of the constant pounding of the tidal bores, the riverbank erosion is a unique problem that need to be tackled by the local authorities. Most of the structures built along the riverbank unless the foundation is solid rock are being eroded into the river.

The following picture shows the approaching tidal bore.

In order to prevent their boat from being damaged by the tidal bore, the boat owner will prefer to have the tidal bore ride as shown in the following picture. Small boat or ships also will have to move away from the wharf in order not to damage the structure during the tidal bore.


The following picture shows the magnitude of the tidal bore along the river bank.
The following picture shows the secondary waves generated from the tidal bore.

Another view of the tidal bore.


The following picture shows tidal bore in action.

Series of waves generated from the tidal bore.

Series of waves created by the tidal bore.

Ships will wait for the high tide before they could sail to the upper stream of the river.

Technorati Profile

Symbol of Peace

Pigeon is usually associated with peace. In Sri Aman, there is a statue of two pigeons as shown above erected at the exact location where the historic event "Deklarasi Sri Aman" or "Sri Aman Declaration" was held. Sri Aman is a malay word for peace. Originally the town was named Simanggang and the name was changed to Sri Aman after the "Deklarasi Sri Aman".

"Sri Aman Declaration" was signed by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Datuk Haji Abdul Rahman Ya'kub and Mr Bong Kee Chok (Director and Commissioner of North Kalimantan People Party, PARAKU) on the 21st October 1973 at the Rumah Sri Aman (previously known as Residensi Simanggang).

Now, Sri Aman is still a peaceful place to stay. Currently, the Sri Aman town is developed at a very fast rate with a lot of new developments being built.

Another reason why you should have enough sleep

Picture courtesy of http://www.smart-kit.com/

The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day. As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It's seen as wasted time, lost forever.

There are several side effects of not having enough time for sleep. Your cardiovascular system or your insulin level might be affected. However, due to the nature of our stressful working life, we sometimes feel that to get enough sleep is still a luxury.

read more

Flood Control

During high tide, flooding usually occurs due to water overflowing into the river tributaries as the results of high tide from the main river. In order to prevent flooding from occurring every time the tide is very high, the water level of the river tributaries need to be controlled using tidal gate. Once the tidal gate is in place and functioning, a lot of things can be constructed from the previously river tributaries. For example, pathway can be constructed on top of the river tributaries.

The picture below shows water level during high tide along Batang Lupar.

The picture below shows the tidal gate releasing water into the main river (Btg Lupar) during low tide. When constructing the tidal gate, ensure that the tidal gate is constructed above the low tide of the main river, otherwise the tidal gate will never ever being able to automatically open to release the water from the river tributaries.



Even during low tide, the tidal gate is being shut to prevent the water from the main river from entering the tributaries.
As the tide getting higher, the tidal gate played its major role preventing water from the main river from entering the tributaries which eventually controls the inner land from being flooded. It is very important to ensure that the tidal gate always functioning by carrying out periodic maintenance.

Fuel! Oh my Dearest Fuel!

It was just announced that the fuel price in Malaysia will increase starting tomorrow 5th June 2008. Petrol price will go up 78 sen per litre to RM2.70. Diesel price will go up RM1 to RM2.58 per litre.

With the increase in fuel price plus all of the increases in the food prices, our net take home salary is reducing further and put a lot of stress on regular commuters. So, take necessary actions to reduce your fuel consumption. There are several tips available to help us reduce the fuel consumption but be careful not to compromise on your own safety on the road.

I am really feel sorry to all my friends who have to travel everyday from afar to go to work burning the same amount of fuel but the difference is have to pay more month after month.

Rainy Day

It has been raining since morning in Kota Semarahan. The weather is quite gloomy plus it is Monday and it is a holiday here in Sarawak to celebrate Gawai. However, it is not an offday for Peninsular Malaysia and it is a working day. Thus I have to travel to Kuala Lumpur today for work related business.

The picture shows a rainy day in Kota Semarahan and eventhough it is already 8 am, the sun is not shining this morning.

Senari Port

Senari Port or Kuching Port is located along the Sarawak River. It is the main entry point for import-export terminal in Kuching. It is one of the terminal for the Kuching Port Authority.


According to the Kuching Port Authority,

The profile of Senari Terminal are as follows:

Land Area:60.0 hectares
Annual Capacity:7 million tonnes
Quay Length:635 m
Width:45 m
Depth:11 m
Tidal Range:5.8 m
Physical Restriction Size: 20,000 tons
LOA: 200 m
Draught: 7.62 m
Storage Sheltered Transit sheds: 20,000 sq. m
CFS: 8,000 sq. m
Dangerous Goods shed: 900 sq. m
Open Yard: 45,000 sq. m
Container Yard: 160,000 sq. m
Reefer Points: 192

Entrance to the Senari Port.

Picture of a ship berthing at the port.

Picture of another ship berthing at the port.

Mt Serapi

Mt. Serapi is one of two tallest peaks within the Kuching Area. Mt. Selang and Mt. Sendok are two more peaks located adjacent to the Mt. Serapi. It is located within Matang District and located about 20 km from Kuching City. one of the tourist attractions located on top of Mt. Serapi is the Kubah National Park. The Kubah National Park, which is one of Sarawak's most accessible national parks, was gazetted in 1989 and opened to public in 1985.

The Park consists largely of undisturbed natural forest with five main vegetation types:- alluvial forest, lowland mixed dipterocarp forest, kerangas (heath) forest, submontane forest and secondary forest. Its rich forest, proximity to the mangrove forests and its terrain all ensure that Kubah is home to a variety of wildlife, including bearded pigs, black hornbills, mousedeer, squirrels and numerous species of amphibians and reptiles. It is also rich in palms and orchids. These include several species of Licuala, Rattans, Pantu, Pinanga, Appendicula, Dipodium and Eria.

Another attraction within the vicinity of area is the Matang Wildlife Centre which house endangered wildlife.



View Larger Map