I ran into a problem after installing Windows 10 to my Macbook Pro.
All was fine until I tried to control the screen brightness and keyboard backlight brigtness....it couldn't work.
I know there will be solution somewhere. There! I found this link.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7102005
It worked for all of those who posted for help. Try it!
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Sunday, August 3, 2014
9th Year Old Car
What would you do to keep your car running for the last one year?
Your tyres are worn, battery dying and road tax and insurance is due....not forgetting the engine needs servicing to avoid falling apart as well.
While browsing the Web to find good deals for a new set of tyres, I could not bear to put my money on it. It was rather expensive to get the same type of tyres for replacement. Michellin Energy Saver XM2.
Well, I was wondering if I could get cheaper tyres from the market. Brand new tyres can be as cheap as $65 per piece for those made in China. Better ones can cost $100 each.
To my surprise, I found a tyre shop located at Paya Lebar Road with many good reviews. I decided to go for it.
I made my options for new and preowned tyres. New tyres from China. Westlake brand or prewoned XM1 Michellin.
$65 vs $45 was left to my own to decide.
After a 5 mins contemplation, i opted for the XM1.
The whole tyre change process was swift taking about 30 mins to change all 4 of them.
Battery was also changed at my request as I narrowly escaped a stalled situation.
All in all I spent $180 ($45×4) for the tyres and $98 for an Amaron battery.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Singapore in 2012
Happy New Year' 2013 !
I would like to have this article recorded in my blog. Singapore went through many rough patches in 2012 and that should never be forgotten. I really wish 2013 can be a better year.
What I am really concern with is the soaring Housing prices and vehicle COEs. They sky rocketed through the roof hitting new highs each month. If that continues, very soon Singaporeans will feel suffocated and....
GOH CHOK TONG: I CAN’T RECALL ANY GOOD EVENTS IN 2012
ESM Goh Chok Tong made a comment on his Facebook on New Year’s Eve, saying that he can’t recall any good events in 2012.
He added, “Not that they were none, but that they were overwhelmed by the bad news (in 2012).”
Mr Goh stepped down from the Cabinet last year after PAP achieved its worst results in last year’s general election, in its close to half a century reign. Things came to a head when angry Singaporeans started to vote against the ruling PAP. For the first time since the independence of Singapore, all the constituencies were contested with the exception of Tanjong Pagar GRC – the opposition team was disqualified as the nomination papers were submitted 35 seconds late.
When the results were announced, even though PAP won the election again, it garnered the lowest winning of % votes in the history of Singapore. Furthermore, for the first time, PAP lost a GRC and two full PAP cabinet ministers in an election. Not only that, three other full cabinet ministers, even though they have won the election, were forced to step down from the cabinet to become ordinary MPs, due to the public anger at their missteps in their respective ministries. The 2 old guards, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong also stepped down.
In addition, Lee and Goh also stepped down from the PAP CEC in its recent election in Dec . The CEC is the party’s highest decision-making body.
On his Facebook, Mr Goh listed the following “bad” events he recalled in Singapore for 2012:
Indian girl who was gang raped and died in Mr E
Train break-downs
Illegal strike by China bus drivers
High profile sex scandals
Industrial accidents in Singapore
He also wishes Singaporeans luck in 2013. His Facebook posting in full:
It is raining cats and dogs now. Hope this will not spoil the count-down parties tonight. I will also be ringing in the New Year with Marine Parade residents.
2012 has been an eventful year for the world and Singapore. I think of Hurricane Sandy, Obama’s re-election, leadership changes in NE Asia, civil war in Syria with innocent lives lost and life disrupted.
I think of the Indian girl who was gang raped and died. I think of the train break-downs, the illegal strike by China bus drivers, the high profile sex scandals, the industrial accidents in Singapore. I cannot instantly think of good events to recall, not that they were none but that they were overwhelmed by the bad news.
So as we welcome 2013, my wish is simply that it will be a better year for the world and Singapore. For you, I wish you good health, success in your studies, career and business, family happiness, peace of mind and luck as well (but not for gambling!). — gct
Source: http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=57429#1
I would like to have this article recorded in my blog. Singapore went through many rough patches in 2012 and that should never be forgotten. I really wish 2013 can be a better year.
What I am really concern with is the soaring Housing prices and vehicle COEs. They sky rocketed through the roof hitting new highs each month. If that continues, very soon Singaporeans will feel suffocated and....
GOH CHOK TONG: I CAN’T RECALL ANY GOOD EVENTS IN 2012
ESM Goh Chok Tong made a comment on his Facebook on New Year’s Eve, saying that he can’t recall any good events in 2012.
He added, “Not that they were none, but that they were overwhelmed by the bad news (in 2012).”
Mr Goh stepped down from the Cabinet last year after PAP achieved its worst results in last year’s general election, in its close to half a century reign. Things came to a head when angry Singaporeans started to vote against the ruling PAP. For the first time since the independence of Singapore, all the constituencies were contested with the exception of Tanjong Pagar GRC – the opposition team was disqualified as the nomination papers were submitted 35 seconds late.
When the results were announced, even though PAP won the election again, it garnered the lowest winning of % votes in the history of Singapore. Furthermore, for the first time, PAP lost a GRC and two full PAP cabinet ministers in an election. Not only that, three other full cabinet ministers, even though they have won the election, were forced to step down from the cabinet to become ordinary MPs, due to the public anger at their missteps in their respective ministries. The 2 old guards, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong also stepped down.
In addition, Lee and Goh also stepped down from the PAP CEC in its recent election in Dec . The CEC is the party’s highest decision-making body.
On his Facebook, Mr Goh listed the following “bad” events he recalled in Singapore for 2012:
Indian girl who was gang raped and died in Mr E
Train break-downs
Illegal strike by China bus drivers
High profile sex scandals
Industrial accidents in Singapore
He also wishes Singaporeans luck in 2013. His Facebook posting in full:
It is raining cats and dogs now. Hope this will not spoil the count-down parties tonight. I will also be ringing in the New Year with Marine Parade residents.
2012 has been an eventful year for the world and Singapore. I think of Hurricane Sandy, Obama’s re-election, leadership changes in NE Asia, civil war in Syria with innocent lives lost and life disrupted.
I think of the Indian girl who was gang raped and died. I think of the train break-downs, the illegal strike by China bus drivers, the high profile sex scandals, the industrial accidents in Singapore. I cannot instantly think of good events to recall, not that they were none but that they were overwhelmed by the bad news.
So as we welcome 2013, my wish is simply that it will be a better year for the world and Singapore. For you, I wish you good health, success in your studies, career and business, family happiness, peace of mind and luck as well (but not for gambling!). — gct
Source: http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=57429#1
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Kukup Resort Trip 15 Dec 2012
Kukup, a place at the West Coast of Johor, Malaysia, well known for great seafood.
Last weekend, I joined some of my colleagues on this trip to have an overnight stay at this wonderful place. My driving started from the causeway took me about 2.5 hours to arrive at the Kukup Ferry Center. Along the way, I passed by few small towns. The route to Kukup was rather monotonous on mostly 2-lanes traffic. You only get to see more cars around town areas. The road condition was fine with some unevenness but no big craters....thankfully!
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| Kukup Ferry Center |
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| Map of Kukup |
Upon arriving at the Kukup Ferry Center, the owner of the resort came to pick me up on a scooter, as the route to the resort unit was quite a distance away. The scooter travelled through the narrow path with many debris in gani-sack and people walking on the side. There were also bicycles and scooters parked along the small narrow path. 
At times I felt like falling off when it approaches tight corners....phew! After all, it was only a less than 3 minutes ride. Well, if you chose to walk, it will probably take about 15 minutes.
Here we are, at the resort unit, finally! Look at how beautiful it looks.
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| Our Resort Unit...right at the end of row |
Just before sunset, I managed to capture a few shots with the cool calm sea.
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| View from our Resort unit |
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| Another double storey resort unit nearby |
The dinner was being prepared by the resort operators. Grilled chicken wings, and chicken satay were part of the menu.
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| Grilling in progress |
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| Grilled Chicken Wings...Yummy! |
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| Chicken Hot Dogs & Otah |
To complement our savor, some brought crackers and snacks that were more than enough to keep us munching all the way through the night. |
| Prawns & Fish (not pictured) |
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| Bags of snacks and crackers |
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| Mahjong...anyone? |
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| Karaoke time! |
We all had fun right till midnight, where some of us went to bed. Few of them, including me continued with the Karaoke till 4am in the morning. Although it made some of them unable to sleep, but slowly through the night, as the tiredness set in, all fell aslept and we could even hear people snoring!
Next Morning...
After a few hours of rest, I woke up early enough to see the sun rise. The sun was roaring with heat and brighness as I watched and captured with my camera.
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| Sun rise |
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| Some whiteheron |
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| Nearby Kelong |
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| Mud-fish were a plenty... |
Breakfast was included in our package. Nasi Lemak, Donuts, curry-puffs, tea and coffee enough for everyone.
The charges were the cheapest among all we can find, only RM85 per head count for a one night stay.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Family Trip to Malaysia
I just went on a self-driven vacation with my family to Peninsula Malaysia during the beginning of the Singapore School Holidays in November 2012. The planning was done about 1.5 months ago and that left us with not much choices for the hotel selection. Fortunately, we were still able to get the hotel rooms at reasonable price and locations we were planning to go.
By the way, the school holiday started from 17 November in Singapore, which was 1 week later after Malaysia. So, most holiday destinations were set to be crowded by the time we head for our vacation.
Day 1
There we went, for a 4 days 3 nights to Malaysia on our mid-sized saloon Toyota Corolla Altis. Before the trip, my car was sent for an engine oil change and tire rotation together with all the safety checks, including brakes, timing belt, radiator water and windscreen water.
.JPG)
Our planned vacation destinations:
1. Malacca, Jonker Street - for our lunch.
2. Kuala Lumpur - visit Petaling Street (with over-night)
3. Cameron Highlands - visit Strawberry Farms and Vegetable Farms ( with over-night)
4. Genting Highlands - visit Indoor Theme Park and Horse Riding (with over-night)
5. Bukit Tinggi - visit the French Village and participate in some of the activities
.JPG)
Malacca - Stop over for Lunch
Knowing that we will be passing by Malacca while on our way to Kuala Lumpur, we decided to stop by for lunch at one of the famous chicken rice stall near Jonker Street.
In the day, Jonker Street was as crowded as it would be in the evening. We spent about half an hour to look for a parking space. Unfortunately, we have to park a little further away from our intended chicken rice stall.
Wow! We were fantacised with the pictures on the wall. Theses pictures were of some famous people who patronised this stall in the past. Some pictures were very old, as you can see from the faded colors and age of some whom we knew in the pictures.
Overall, the lunch was special. We ordered some chicken rice balls, a plate of chicken, a plate of vegetable and 2 Cendol. The chilli were not too spicy and had plenty for our needs. 5 chicken rice balls was equivalent to a bowl of rice. The chicken was flavoured with some soya sauce and not too salty. Well, the vegetable was ok and our children liked it very much. The Cendol was taken last, as a dessert to compliment our lunch with some sweetness to remain on our taste buds.
We did not buy much, except for drinks and food which were too tempting to resist trying....Lou Han Guo drinks, Soya Bean curd and drinks, Steamed Corn.
Shortly after 10pm, we headed back to Tiara Inn for our rest.
By the way, the school holiday started from 17 November in Singapore, which was 1 week later after Malaysia. So, most holiday destinations were set to be crowded by the time we head for our vacation.
Day 1
There we went, for a 4 days 3 nights to Malaysia on our mid-sized saloon Toyota Corolla Altis. Before the trip, my car was sent for an engine oil change and tire rotation together with all the safety checks, including brakes, timing belt, radiator water and windscreen water.
.JPG)
Our planned vacation destinations:
1. Malacca, Jonker Street - for our lunch.
2. Kuala Lumpur - visit Petaling Street (with over-night)
3. Cameron Highlands - visit Strawberry Farms and Vegetable Farms ( with over-night)
4. Genting Highlands - visit Indoor Theme Park and Horse Riding (with over-night)
5. Bukit Tinggi - visit the French Village and participate in some of the activities
.JPG)
Malacca - Stop over for Lunch
Knowing that we will be passing by Malacca while on our way to Kuala Lumpur, we decided to stop by for lunch at one of the famous chicken rice stall near Jonker Street.
In the day, Jonker Street was as crowded as it would be in the evening. We spent about half an hour to look for a parking space. Unfortunately, we have to park a little further away from our intended chicken rice stall.
Wow! We were fantacised with the pictures on the wall. Theses pictures were of some famous people who patronised this stall in the past. Some pictures were very old, as you can see from the faded colors and age of some whom we knew in the pictures.
Overall, the lunch was special. We ordered some chicken rice balls, a plate of chicken, a plate of vegetable and 2 Cendol. The chilli were not too spicy and had plenty for our needs. 5 chicken rice balls was equivalent to a bowl of rice. The chicken was flavoured with some soya sauce and not too salty. Well, the vegetable was ok and our children liked it very much. The Cendol was taken last, as a dessert to compliment our lunch with some sweetness to remain on our taste buds.
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| The Signboard |
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| Pictures we found on the wall |
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| Cendol |
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| Tender Chicken meat |
.JPG) |
| Front of stall |
Finally, we arrived at Kuala Lumpur just after 5pm.
.JPG) |
| Entering Kuala Lumpur |
We checked in Tiara Inn along Jalan Pudu and without further delay, we headed out towards Chinatown (or Petaling Street). Parking along the street was not recommended so we parked the car in one of the nearby shopping mall.
We walked towards the busy streetand we took some light stuffs so that we weren't be too hungry to eat and shop along Petaling Street when night falls.
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| A busy street with several food providers |
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| Table setting with a boiling soup in the middle and cutlery at the side |
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| Some cheese-hot dogs and chicken satay |
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| Busy Street view from afar... |
There were many things you can buy from the night market on Petaling Street. The prices were very competitive. Just in case you may not know, some stalls were 'linked'. The same seller will have serveral stalls selling the same stuffs. So don't be too ready to accept the price. We did not buy much, except for drinks and food which were too tempting to resist trying....Lou Han Guo drinks, Soya Bean curd and drinks, Steamed Corn.
Shortly after 10pm, we headed back to Tiara Inn for our rest.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Digital Audio Manager
Good day!
In the past years, I have been recording audio interviews and voices of interest to me.
I used to own a digital audio recorder back in 1996 where I used it to record lectures during my part time degree course. A CD with software and driver came together with the digital recorder where it helped me to connect to PC and play the recordings. As the digital recorder had only 128MB memory, the file format it stored was in DMF. This kind of audio format can compress an hour long lecture in less than 14MB. Hence, to store an 8 hour long recording was possible.
As years gone by and PC operating system upgraded, this wonderful software was long gone from the newer PC I was using. As I tried to open these DMF audio files recently, I realized I had a problem! There wasn't any digital audio player in the market right now that can open them! Although I managed to find some software that claim to able to open DMF audio file format, but to my disappointment, they all can't.
Finally, I resorted to digging into my old software CD album to look for the wonderful software. Yes, I found it after a while. But I was not sure it if can work on Windows 7. The printing on the CD stated supported operating system to be Win 98, Win 2000, Win XP. However, I gave it a try by installing the software into Windows 7.....oh yes! It still worked!
With that I managed to convert all DMF files into WAV format. And of course, with WAV format, you can easily convert them into MP3 and any other format.
In the past years, I have been recording audio interviews and voices of interest to me.
I used to own a digital audio recorder back in 1996 where I used it to record lectures during my part time degree course. A CD with software and driver came together with the digital recorder where it helped me to connect to PC and play the recordings. As the digital recorder had only 128MB memory, the file format it stored was in DMF. This kind of audio format can compress an hour long lecture in less than 14MB. Hence, to store an 8 hour long recording was possible.
As years gone by and PC operating system upgraded, this wonderful software was long gone from the newer PC I was using. As I tried to open these DMF audio files recently, I realized I had a problem! There wasn't any digital audio player in the market right now that can open them! Although I managed to find some software that claim to able to open DMF audio file format, but to my disappointment, they all can't.
Finally, I resorted to digging into my old software CD album to look for the wonderful software. Yes, I found it after a while. But I was not sure it if can work on Windows 7. The printing on the CD stated supported operating system to be Win 98, Win 2000, Win XP. However, I gave it a try by installing the software into Windows 7.....oh yes! It still worked!
With that I managed to convert all DMF files into WAV format. And of course, with WAV format, you can easily convert them into MP3 and any other format.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
24 hours Car Wash in Johor Bahru
During a trip to Kluang, we decided to send our car for a wash on our way back.
As we are not familar with the places in Kluang, so we did not want to waste time looking for one there. Immediately after the leaving the town area, we hit back to the North-South Highway towards Johor Bahru.
Who knows! The rainfall started shortly after. We felt so relieved that we did not had the car wash back in Kluang.
Unknowingly, the trip back took us about 1.5 hours to reach JB area.
There we were, the car drenched and dirty all over. Fortunately, there wasn't any rain in JB. So we know it would be alright to have the car washed before heading back home.
We reached a straight road quite near the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex to have the car washed. Here is the Map to 24 Hours Car Wash.
The washing processes were as follows:
1) Spraying water all over the car to wash away loose dirts.
2) Spraying Foam all over the car, getting ready to sponge it.
3) The washers will start sponging the car, top, front and back, left and right, including the 4 rims and tyres.
.JPG)
.JPG)
As we are not familar with the places in Kluang, so we did not want to waste time looking for one there. Immediately after the leaving the town area, we hit back to the North-South Highway towards Johor Bahru.
Who knows! The rainfall started shortly after. We felt so relieved that we did not had the car wash back in Kluang.
Unknowingly, the trip back took us about 1.5 hours to reach JB area.
There we were, the car drenched and dirty all over. Fortunately, there wasn't any rain in JB. So we know it would be alright to have the car washed before heading back home.
We reached a straight road quite near the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex to have the car washed. Here is the Map to 24 Hours Car Wash.
The washing processes were as follows:
1) Spraying water all over the car to wash away loose dirts.
2) Spraying Foam all over the car, getting ready to sponge it.
3) The washers will start sponging the car, top, front and back, left and right, including the 4 rims and tyres.
.JPG)
4) After all the sponging, a few buckets of water were thrown over the car to wash away the 'initial' foam.
.JPG)
5) Now the high pressure spray gun deployed to thoroughly wash away all the foam.
6) The car then be driven to the dry area (of course by the car owner) for a thorough vacuum cleaning.
7) Finally, the car washed and vacuum cleaned. All for a reasonable price.
Not forgetting to mention, this place was really 'hot' with several cars waiting even when it was after midnight.
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