The Malaysia Responsible Dog Ownership Day held on September 11, 2005 is featured in MCA Web Site at
http://www.mca.org.my/story.asp?file=/articles/community/2005/45774.html&sec=Community+Highlights
MRDO Day featured in MCA Web Site
2
Online ADs gaining ground against printed AD
Online AD has been growing substantially in recent quarters. Yahoo revenue from online ad alone for 2nd quarter is USD 1.25 billion, up from about slightly over USD 1 billion from first quarter. Similarly, Google 2nd quarter revenue from online AD amount to USD 1.36 billion. All these grow come in the expense of traditional printed AD. With Internet becoming part of everyone life, this sector set to grow further and online ad is expected to double every year to USD 19 billion a year in five years.
Users and individual no longer have to wait for weekly journal or printed newspaper to arrive, they begin to rely more on online resources that is normally updated at very close interval. The new advertising solutions offer by Yahoo and Google to web site publishers will no doubt speed up the growth of the online AD.
MRDO Day 2005 – Report in Malay Mail
A day to remember for dog owners
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12
——————————————————————————–
The second Sunday of every September will be a day to remember for dog owners.
It was declared as the Malaysia Responsible Dog Ownership (MRDO) Day yesterday.
The first MRDO, organised by Puppy.com.my (Puppycom) and sponsored by Purina PetCare (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd was held at the Central Park, Bandar Utama, yesterday.
Deputy Minister of Information Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai also launched the Puppycom Canine Good Citizen Programme (CGC), a community project to educate dog owners to train their dogs for good behaviour.
He said some of the dog owners are not responsible enough and treat public areas as toilets and let the pets roam free in the neighbourhood.
Also present were Purina PetCare (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd national sales manager Ding Chai Thong and Hileytech Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Khoo Boo Gee.
It attracted some 3,500 dog lovers to the Central Park with their pets to socialise and enjoy the games and demonstration by the K9 Unit of the Customs Department, police and Fire and Services Search and Rescue Team.
There was also an animal show performed by the A’Famosa Resort Group, doggie games, dog agility and obedience demonstration and a vet corner to offer free medical check and advice to owners.
Malaysia Responsible Dog Ownership Day – Report by the Star Metro
Malaysia Responsible Dog Ownership Day was successfully held on September 11, 2005 at Central Park, Bandar Utama. Report by Star Metro as below:-
Inaugural Dog Ownership Day
Story and photos by CHIN MUI YOON
local authorities have been urged to implement a clear set of common guidelines for dog owners, as the current multiple set of rules and regulations varying between different councils are confusing.
In making the call, Deputy Infor-mation Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said all these guidelines should be acceptable and carefully thought-through before they were implemented.
“Often, a council’s rules and regulations are made by officers sitting inside their offices without a first-hand understanding of what is really happening on the ground.
Puppy.com members showing off their trained dogs’ excellent obedience skills where the canines learn to sit and stay, greet strangers with a friendly manner and walk beside their owners instead of pulling at the leash.
“This results in the theory and practical aspects of guidelines being very different from one place to another,†he said after launching the first Malaysia Dog Ownership Day at the Bandar Utama Central Park on Sunday.
“We are living in a 21st century democratic society in a nation of many faiths and culture. All the people’s rights have to be protected and respected.
“The local councils should hold discussions with pet owners and animal welfare NGOs before coming up with guidelines,†he added.
beautiful Golden Retriever, Chester, seeks break from the midday sun by hiding inside a doggie play tunnel.
Lim said a blanket rule governing dog ownership was difficult to implement due to the different development stages in a state or between the states. Currently, the eight local councils in Selangor each has its own set of bylaws governing dog ownership.
Touching on the RM200 fine for owners found guilty of abusing their pets, Lim said the 20-year-old law was outdated and was too small a sum to deter people from committing cruelty to animals.
“Local authorities should come up with an amount that is relevant to the present day,†he said.
Lim also launched the Puppycom Canine Good Citizen Programme (CGC). Also present at the event was puppy.com founder and director Khoo Boo Ghee.
The CGC programme is a community project to train dogs in accordance with international standards such as the American Kennel Club.
The CGC has been implemented in training since 1989 and police and animal control agencies in England, Australia, Japan, Canada and some European countries use the programme in their local communities.
Daphne the Mini Schauzer looking pretty in blue.
The training programme is open to all dog owners with dogs aged at least three months old that have completed their vaccination.
Dogs that have passed the 10-point test will be given a certificate. The CGC also lays the foundation for other Puppycom activities and training such as obedience and agility.
“We hope dog owners will sign up for the training to ensure they have a well-behaved dog,†said Khoo.
The Malaysia Responsible Dog Ownership Day sponsored by Purina PetCare will now be held every second Sunday in September. Its first event drew over a thousand dog owners with their pets in tow.
The dogs participated in fun games such as a race with their masters called the Fastest Recall contest, Fastest Eating contest and a Dog Rally.
They also got to enjoy hours of socialising. From pretty toy poodles dressed up in lacy frocks to a giant, bear-like Newfoundland, the dogs happily sniffed each other out to make new friends. Some dogs, especially the Golden Retrievers, even went for a swim in the pond.
A thrilling demonstration on dogs‘ intelligence and usefulness was seen when a Labrador and a Golden Retriever from the K9 Unit of the Royal Malaysian Customs efficiently sniffed out smuggled ganja.
The Police K9 Unit also demonstrated their dogs’ ability in crowd control, drug detectioin, agility and obedience.
Finally the Fire and Rescue team demonstrated their dogs’ ability in digging out humans trapped under piles of rubble or in a fire.
For details on the Puppycom Canine Good Citizen Programme, visit www.puppy.com.my or call 03-4297 8281.
Discus Gallery Contest
Discus enthusiats at the Fish forum is running a contest on The Best Discus Gallery for the month of September 2005. Read the following thread for more information
http://www.myfishforum.com/threadnav2371-1-10.html
You are welcoem to join the contest
Poor Montoya at SPA
The race at SPA over the weekend has been a wet one for all team. The races move slowly but look surely to have a 1-2 finish by Mc Laren. Their first in 5 years. After the 2nd pit stop, Raikkonen managed to pass Montoya to take the lead. The Finn was running extremely fast and consistently running at 3 seconds a lap faster than Montoya and Alonso. With only 3 laps away from finish, A Pizzonia of William took Montoya out of the race while trying to unlap himself. An incident stunned Mc Laren fan like as well as Ron Dennis. At about 4 laps from the finish, Klien of Red Bull racing tried to pass Alonso and the F1 commentator was saying that if Alonso did not handle the situation carefully, Klien may take Alonso out of the race. Just minutes later, it happened to Montoya.
Bad lucks has plague Mc Laren for years. Just a few races ago, Raikkonen blew his tire with just a few laps from victory. Years back, Hakkinen has a clutch problem with just two corners away from finish at the last lap of Spain GP.
Even though it is not Montoya fault, should Montoya move slight faster, A Pizzonia should not have any chance to close the gap and take him out. Obviously Montoya has been trying to run a controlled race like what Alonso is doing.
The result after this race is
Drivers’ Standings
Pos Driver Points
1 F Alonso (Spa) 111
2 K Raikkonen (Fin) 86
3 M Schumacher (Ger) 55
4 JP Montoya (Col) 50
5 J Trulli (Ita) 43
6 G Fisichella (Ita) 41
7 R Schumacher (Ger) 37
8 R Barrichello (Bra) 35
9 J Button (GB) 30
10 M Webber (Aus) 29
11 N Heidfeld (Ger) 28
12 D Coulthard (GB) 21
13 J Villeneuve (Can) 9
14 F Massa (Bra) 8
15 T Monteiro (Por) 7
16 A Wurz (Aut) 6
17= N Karthikeyan (Ind) 5
17= C Klien (Aut) 5
19= C Albers (Hol) 4
19= P de la Rosa (Spa) 4
21 P Friesacher (Aut) 3
22 A Pizzonia (Bra) 2
23= T Sato (Jap) 1
23= V Liuzzi (Ita) 1
Constructor Standings
Pos Team Points
1 Renault 152
2 McLaren 146
3 Ferrari 90
4 Toyota 80
5 BMW-Williams 59
7 BAR 31
6 Red Bull 27
8 Sauber 17
9 Jordan 12
10 Minardi 7
Constructor Championship should be within reach of McLaren but the Driver Championship should go to Alonso without doubt.
eBay to buy Skype for $2.6 billion in cash, stock
The auctioneer said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the Web communications company. It would make a further payout of up to $1.5 billion by 2008 or 2009 if financial targets are met, giving the deal a total value of up to $4.1 billion, executives of the two companies said.
Air Bag for Motorcycle
Honda announced recently a new airbag system for motorcycle as shown Here. The airbag will however only installed on high end motorcycle with large cc but it is one important step taken to increase the safety of the motorcyclist.
Remember that airbags are only featured in high car some 10 years ago. Even the Audi that I drove then has only one air bag. Today, most continental car are installed with 6 air bags and some even has 10 air bags in them. Car that we drive these days are much safer and surely motorcycle is moving in similar direction.
West
With European anti-tobacco laws came into force last month, McLaren lost their title sponsor West and instead, they have announced that Hilton will be one of their main sponsor. Hence we will begin to see Hilton logo instead of West in McLaren Mercedes car in this weekend race.
Vortex Filter working well
C hecking out my koi pond today found that the pond water clear up further. I am now able to see the base of the 5 feet deep pond very clearly. This is an indication that the bio filter of the Vortex has kicked in. From this point onwards, I will increase feeding and consistantly feed 3 kg of koi food daily to my koi for the next few weeks and monitor the water quality regularly. We shall see if the Vortex is able to cope with this load.
Mercedes and McLaren blew it at Monza
Mc Laren Mercedes blew again at Monza and that really spoiled Raikkonen hope of title chase. As a result, the driver champion now is surely belong to Alonso who is now 27 points ahead of Raikkonen with only 4 more races to go.
Firstly, the engine failure during practise set Raikkonen 10 grid back at starting line. By starting at 11th position cost Raikkonen more than 30 second behind Alonso during the window of the first pit stop. When Raikkonen pit for the first time, a lot of fuel went into his car to make him race to finish with only one pit stop and this look extremely promising. But before long, Raikkonen was called in again for a tire replacement which cost him another 30 seconds.
Montoya who was leading the race also suffer some tire problem during final few laps but he was lucky to finish the race to take the chequed flag. As Michelin tire works well in other Michellion Teams, the tire failure must be due to the suspension setup problem as highlighted by Alonso later.
Mc Laren no doubt has the quickest car at this moment but they simply lack reliability. Renault on the hand simply going to win driver championship on reliability of the car.
Montoyo vowed to help Raikkonen to win remaining races but it is now a little bit to late and there is no way Raikkonen can win the driver title unless Alonso crash out of the remaining three races. That look quite impossible of course.
As a McLaren fan, all I can do is wait for another year to see if Raikkonen can take the title again for Mc Laren.
Drivers’ Standings
Pos Driver Points
1 F Alonso (Spa) 103
2 K Raikkonen (Fin) 76
3 M Schumacher (Ger) 55
4 JP Montoya (Col) 50
5 J Trulli (Ita) 43
6 G Fisichella (Ita) 41
7 R Schumacher (Ger) 35
8 R Barrichello (Bra) 31
9 N Heidfeld (Ger) 28
10= M Webber (Aus) 24
10= J Button (GB) 24
12 D Coulthard (GB) 21
13 F Massa (Bra) 8
14= T Monteiro (Por) 6
14= A Wurz (Aut) 6
14= J Villeneuve (Can) 6
17= N Karthikeyan (Ind) 5
17= C Klien (Aut) 5
19= C Albers (Hol) 4
19= P de la Rosa (Spa) 4
21 P Friesacher (Aut) 3
22 A Pizzonia (Bra) 2
23= T Sato (Jap) 1
23= V Liuzzi (Ita) 1
Constructor Standings
Pos Team Points
1 Renault 144
2 McLaren 136
3 Ferrari 86
4 Toyota 78
5 BMW-Williams 54
6 Red Bull 27
7 BAR 25
8 Sauber 14
9 Jordan 11
10 Minardi 7
iPod and FM transmitter
Apple iPod 20GB is a good MP3 Player as far I am concern. For once , I am able to store all the songs, sone 3000 of them, in my CD collection to a single iPod. Song from those from the 80’s and current pop song can be retrieve from the iPod with ease. The iPod also made CD changer in my car obsolete. In my earlier car, I used to transmit the song to my car audio system via a casettte adapter.
The audio system of my the other car Volve S80 however come without a cassette player and I am forced to look for a FM Transmitter. Look around and finally got hold of the Griffin FM Transmitter. Configuration and setting of frequency through the playlist is a bit tricky but the worst set back is the poor sound quality it transmitted when the car is moving. With such set back, I finally stop using the Griffin Transmitter in my car and instead I used it now at home to transmit the song to my FM Receiver. By placing the transmitter close to the receiver, the sound quality is infact good enough.
Griffin recent launched the new FM Transmitter that some with LCD screen and a knob for setting the desire frequency. Read more at
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itriplcd/index.php. Setting of frequency is no doubt become much easier but yet to check our the sound quality it offers.
My unit of Griffin FM Transmitter was purchased at a price of RM 199.00.
Tekkeon Road Warrier is another FM transmitter which can be consider but the price tag is well in excess of RM 400. I was told that Roas Warrier, as the name implied, is a better option for transmitting song from iPod to the audio receiver in car.
Pond water clearing up – with Vortex Filters
With 10 tons pond running on two Vortex Chambers, the pond water finally clearing up today. The filter has been running over a period of more than one month. The bacteria in the bio chamber appear to be matured. The next thing to do is to monitor the nitrate level in the pond water. Very soon, I will have to re commission the original underground filter so that I can restart my Trickle Filter which has been idling for the same period of time. Hence, the Vortex is working well.
K9 Trekkers trek at Fraser Hill
The K9 Trekkers
- http://www.puppy.com.my/k9trekkers/
were at Fraser Hill recently. A group of us travel up to Fraser Hill on Saturday morning leaving Kuala Lumpur at 9:00am and reached GAP at 11:00am. We travelled along North South Express and exited at Taman Malim and then head south to Kuala Kubu Baru. The road from KKB to GAP is extremely winding and quite tough for some of people as well as their furkids. Jody, my pug and my daughter Doreen were with us to Fraser Hill. We reach The Smoke House where we put up a night at Fraser Hill. The K9 Trekkers took up all the 14 rooms available and really enjoyed the 2 days one night stay. The weather has been extremely good and cooling. On 2nd day at Fraser Hill, we attempt the Jungle Trek with a guide. Some of the pictures taken are as below :-
The Smoke House were kind enough to allow our dogs to stay with us in the resort room. We too are very happy that our team of K9 Trekkers were very discipline and responsible and all our furkids did not contributed any inconvenience to others during our visit.
Lunch and dinner at The Smoke House were enjoying. After our dinner, we proceeded with our AA session with tons of alcohol. Breakfast on 2nd day was similarly fantastic.
More pictures are as follow :-
We left Fraser Hill at 2:00pm on second day as the gate open on even hours. Going downhill was much more comfortable than going up and all passengers managed a nice sleep on the way back to Kuala Lumpur. More pictures are as follow:-
Furkids that made to the trek includes Pug, Miniature Pincher, Chi Hua Hua, Golden Retriever, Beagle, Mongrel, …
Another Engine Failure
Raikkonen suffered another engine failure today during practise. Does that sound familiar ? Yes indeed. Each time when Mc Laren catch up slightly with rival Renault, some technical issue will surface and that will like make Raikkonen slip back slightly again. Two previous incidents make Raikkonen demoted 10 grid positions and he managed to finish 2nd and 3rd place behind rival Alonso for those two races. If Alonso starts well tomorrow, then it is likely the gap between Alonso and Raikkonen will widen up. Ron Dennis maintain that Raikkonen can still win tomorrow, that is possible but difficult. Anyway the race tomorrow will be interesting and let enjoy !