Jim Paull

Making hollandaise sauce the traditional way may be time-honored, but it takes a lot of effort and is easy to mess up. If you have an immersion blender at home, here’s how you can make perfectly creamy hollandaise every time, in no time.

Read more...

Eataly, a chain of massive Italian food meccas, is granting a wish I didn't even know I had: They're building a theme park. Yes, a theme park with a focus on Italian food. What a time to be alive!

READ MORE »

An Airport Rail Link train from Bangkok Airport to the City Center suffered a malfunction this morning and got stuck after the power went out which also caused the air conditioning to fail.

With temperatures in Bangkok hovering between 36-40 degrees Celsius these days the train quickly became an oven with passengers starting to faint.

With that happening some passengers panicked and tried to destroy the compartment windows to get fresh air which didn’t appear to seem successful. Passengers then opened the emergency exits and left the train, some of them decided to walk over the tracks to the next station.

Passengers were Tweeting pictures and uploading videos on Facebook.

The remaining rest of the passengers was later transferred to a rescue train (I assume that’s what the above pictures show).

The Nation came out with a more detailed story about noon time today (access here).

A power breakdown prompted an Airport Rail Link train to get stuck in the rail Monday morning before panic passengers exit through the emergency exits after they unsuccessfully tried to break the glass windows and took to the rail to walk to the nearby Ramkhamhaeng station.

The power breakdown was reported at the Ramkhamhaeng station at 7:50 am. By 8:50 am, a passenger posted message on Facebook that people started fainting because the train was crowded and without air condition, heat built up.

She posted that panic passengers tried to break the glass windows but the windows did not break. They later used emergency exits and started walking on the rail to the Ramkhamhaeng station.

With the people walking on the rail, the authorities cut power on the rail, and thus causing other trains to be delayed.

The Airport Rail Link reported that by 9 am, a rescue train was dispatched to evacuate passengers from the breakdown train. The rescue train had to wait for some 20 passengers who got down to the rail to reach the Ramkhamhaeng station first before the power could be resupplied to the system.

When you look at the article at The Nation you can see medical teams attending to people who passed out from the heat. Hopefully everything will be alright!

A couple things to consider are probably known to those of you who have visited Bangkok previously. The Airport Link goes above grounds so you can’t just get off the tracks and make way. If the air condition shuts down I’d say it takes about 4-5 minutes until the heat goes up to unbearable temperatures in a train compartment.

I’m really surprised it took an hour for the situation to get out of control. Considering the reliability of engineering and information in Thailand it could either take 10 minutes or 10 hours until things are being repaired so if the situation was already going on for an hour with no solution in sight I’d say it’s not too unreasonable to try and get out on foot.

Conclusion

The Airport Rail Link was constructed quite some time ago by Siemens and word has it that the maintenance contract ran out which the operator Railways of Thailand didn’t bother to extend. Well, this is what happens when you leave things exclusively in Thai hand I suppose. The system had a lot of issues in the past couple of years and obviously everything mechanic needs proper maintenance to keep functioning properly.

KUALA LUMPUR: Agensi Angkasa Negara (ANGKASA) sedang mengkaji untuk mewujudkan Akta Pencemaran Cahaya bagi mengawal pencemaran cahaya di negara ini, kata Ketua Pengarahnya Dr Noordin Ahmad.

Beliau berkata ANGKASA ketika ini sedang menyediakan garis panduan berhubung perkara itu dengan kerjasama pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT) yang bertanggungjawab mengawal selia limpahan cahaya akibat daripada pembangunan bandar.

“Kita memang memerlukan akta ini dan pada masa ini, ANGKASA sedang bekerjasama dengan Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ), Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) dan Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) kerana lampu daripada bangunan dan lampu jalan sekarang ini di bawah seliaan mereka.

“Kami juga sedang memberi kesedaran kepada pihak berkenaan mengenai pencemaran cahaya yang berpunca daripada cahaya lampu bangunan dan juga lampu jalan,” katanya kepada Bernama selepas menghadiri tayangan perdana filem “To Space and Back” dan sambutan Earth Hour di Planetarium Negara di sini, hari ini.

Menurut Noordin pencemaran cahaya di negara ini baru memasuki tahap serius dan jika tidak ditangani ia bakal menjejaskan bidang astronomi negara.

“Kerja pencerapan di balai cerap di Planetarium Negara kini turut terjejas ekoran pencemaran cahaya yang melampau di bandaraya Kuala Lumpur.

“Di Planetarium Negara, kesannya ketara terutama kepada ahli astronomi yang melibatkan balai cerap kami di sini tidak boleh berfungsi sepenuhnya menyebabkan kami terpaksa membina satu balai cerap di Pulau Langkawi pada 2006 untuk mengatasi masalah pencemaran cahaya,” katanya.

Beliau berkata balai cerap yang dikenali sebagai Observatori Negara Langkawi (ONL) juga bakal terjejas jika tiada kawalan dari segi pengwujudan akta, ordinan atau garis panduan.

-Bernama

OTTAWA: A major liquefied natural gas export project in Canada ran into another delay on Saturday when the federal environmental assessment agency was granted an extra three months to finish an impact study.

Ottawa did though commit to announcing a final decision on the project this year, which would end a long-running saga for Malaysia’s state-owned oil giant Petronas.

The firm and its partners have been waiting nearly three years for a permit to build the Pacific NorthWest LNG facility in northern British Columbia, on the Pacific coast.

News of the latest delay broke on Saturday, when federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna agreed to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s request (CEAA) for the extra three months.

The CEAA – which had been due to deliver its report to McKenna by March 22 – said it needed more data from the project’s backers after they handed over a series of documents and observations on March 4.

A spokeswoman for McKenna said the federal cabinet would announce a decision three months after the backers had handed over the requested additional information.

The ambitious plan to build Canada’s first LNG export terminal faced challenges from the start, including controversy over its chosen site, which local aboriginal and environment groups said would destroy a critical salmon habitat.

It is also the first major project to have an environmental assessment completed under new rules that include the impact of upstream production on project emissions.

A spokesman for Pacific NorthWest did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Petronas, battling a profit-sapping slump in prices that could produce heavy losses, can ill afford to splurge on future supply.

But neither can it afford a lengthy and inconclusive process with authorities in Canada, where the project is seen as a test of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s green credentials.

Trudeau’s Liberals came to power last November promising to do a much better job of protecting the environment than the previous Conservative government.

But the Liberals, who say Canada must cut emissions of greenhouse gases, are also under pressure to push through approvals of projects in the energy sector, which is losing jobs due to the slump in oil and gas prices.

“The agency has requested additional information from the proponent in order to determine whether the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects,” it said in the statement.

The request for more time to complete the impact study raises the prospect of more conditions on construction. This could simply make the project economically enviable, analysts say, leaving Petronas to write off billions already invested.

For Petronas, and Malaysia, the conditions have changed dramatically since it launched the project, long considered a front-runner among dozens proposed for British Columbia.

Gas prices are currently a quarter of 2014’s peak. Last month, Petronas cut jobs and announced some $12 billion in spending cuts over the next four years – the same sum analysts estimate it has sunk into the Canadian project.

And Malaysia’s economy too is cooling, dampened by China and a domestic financial scandal. Petronas is one of the country’s biggest employers and accounts for nearly a third of the government’s oil and gas-related revenue.

The stakes are also high for Canada, which is seeking to kick start the local LNG industry, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Chong Zhi Xin, speaking before Saturday’s announcement.

But those ambitions come as Trudeau promises to transform Canada’s environmental image. If built, environmental campaigners say the Petronas project would tarnish that.

– Reuters

Sweat spots are just one of life's many problems. Ironically, almost all sweat stains are caused by deodorant and laundry detergent, products you'd expect to keep your clothes sweat-free and clean! Learn how to fight these stains, then consider switching to a deodorant with less obnoxious stains.

EditSteps

1. Understand the cause. White or yellow sweat stains are caused when two products react: underarm deodorant with aluminum-based ingredients; and alkali laundry detergent with carbon compounds. You can't do much about the detergent, but switching to a deodorant without antiperspirant can solve your problem. If the switch isn't worth the sweat, you'll need an acidic treatment to dissolve the aluminum bond. Read on for more guidance.
   
   • Not all antiperspirants are created equal. Neutral, unscented antiperspirant tends to leave white stains, which are harder to notice and easier to clean. However, all-natural, plant-based deodorants may leave a very yellow stain, even if unscented.
2. Examine the stain. No single treatment is best at cleaning sweat stains, because of the vast differences between deodorant brands. Check out the stain to get a good idea of what might work:
   
   • If the stain is white, hard, and brittle, any acid will usually remove the stain. Use the most convenient option from the lists below.
   • If the stain is bright white and bends easily, it will require stronger acids. Try one of the strong treatments below, such as lemon juice or vinegar.
   • If the stain is yellow, it's hard to evaluate. Try any convenient option first. If that doesn't work, you may need to make several attempts with strong treatments.
3. Choose a light treatment. If you happen to have these already, you can give them a go. These tend to be weaker acids than the strong treatments below:
   
   • Clear soda or soft drinks (carbolic and phosphoric acids); avoid colored sodas
   • A paste of baking soda and a little water (although alkaline, this contains carbonic acid)
   • Crushed aspirin (acetylsalicylic)
   • Meat tenderizer powder (not a great option, due to variation between brands)
4. Choose a strong treatment. If the stain is tough to remove, try these stronger treatments:
   
   • Strong white vinegar (acetic acid)
     • Do not use balsamic vinegar as that will further ruin the clothes
   • Lemon juice, or any raw citrus fruit (citric acid)
   • Professional cleaners may use stronger acid treatments. Request this as a last resort, due to the risk of burning holes in your clothing.
5. Let the acid soak in. Saturate the stain with your chosen acid. Let sit for 20 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how old and heavy the stain is. Squeeze out the wet area of the shirt before you continue.
   
6. Treat white shirts with hydrogen peroxide (optional). This is a whitening agent, which may bleach colored clothing. If used on a white shirt, this can help make the stain less noticeable. Saturate the stain and let sit another 20 minutes.
   
   • Optionally, add baking powder and salt as well to abrade the stain.
7. Run through the washing machine. You can add this to the rest of your clothes. If you are concerned about setting the stain further, you may want to run it through without laundry detergent — but most people do not find this necessary.
   
   • If the stain is less visible but not completely gone, run it through a second time.
8. Wash with stain remover and bleach. This may do the job, but it will bleach colored clothing. If nothing else works, apply stain remover over the stain and wash again with a scoop or two of bleach directly on the clothing.
   
   • Set your washer on the highest spin speed so the bleach is evenly distributed throughout your clothing.

EditVideo

EditTips

• Hard, brittle, white stains are caused by deodorants that contain bulking agents. This is usually calcium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide. These stains are easier to clean.
• If you're using unscented, non-plant-based deodorant and you still get yellow stains, it is probably reacting with organic molecules on your skin. You may not be able to avoid this, but fortunately this is an easy type of stain to remove.
• Wear an undershirt to catch sweat stains.
• Clean as quickly as possible for best results. While the stain is still damp, try scrubbing it off with baby wipes.
• The fragrance in deodorant is usually based in aldehyde or ketone. This can react with other components to create some of the toughest, yellowest stains.

EditWarnings

• Check the label. Some articles of clothing contain warning labels against vinegar or hydrogen peroxide as this will splotch the colors. About 99% of clothes are already naturally resistant, but a small minority will get ruined. If there is doubt, to try the vinegar or peroxide in a small part of the cloth first before committing it to the stain.

EditRelated wikiHows

• Remove Coloring Washed in to Clothes
• Remove Gum from Fabrics
• Remove Bloodstains from Clothing
• Remove Wax from Clothing
• Remove Oil Based Stains from Fabrics

Shangri-La’s Golden Circle has launched a new 50% off standard room awards promotion called Loyalty Is Celebration.

You can get standard rooms at 50% off for stays between April 1 – May 31, 2016, but you must book by March 31.

You can access this offer on Shangri-La’s website here.

The offer is valid at all Shangri-La, Traders, Kerry and Hotel Jen excluding the following ones:

• Shangri-La Hotel, Beihai
• Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa
• Yanuca, Fiji; Putrajaya Shangri-La
• Shangri-La Apartment, Singapore
• Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa
• Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London

Conclusion

Golden Circle runs these award promotions semi frequently and usually discounts executive rooms and suites too, although not this time.

Here are the terms and conditions:

1. The offer is valid for Room Award redemption stay in a Standard Room at any Shangri-La hotel, Kerry hotel, Traders hotel and Hotel Jen, excluding Shangri-La Hotel, Beihai; Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa, Yanuca, Fiji; Putrajaya Shangri-La; Shangri-La Apartment, Singapore; Shangri-La’s Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa and Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London.
2. Redemption booking must be made from noon on 1 March to noon on 31 March 2016 (Hong Kong Time) for stays from 1 April to 31 May 2016.
3. Room Award redemption can be made through the Golden Circle website, via the Golden Circle Member Services, or upon check-in at the hotel’s reception. The offer is subject to availability at the time of redemption. Black-out dates apply.
4. Room Award redemption can only be made for members’ stay only. This offer does not apply to Nominee redemption booking.
5. Only qualifying spending during the stay charged to the room account is eligible to earn GC Award Points.
6. The offer is not valid in conjunction with other offers or promotions.
7. Terms and conditions of the Golden Circle Programme apply.

The FoodSaver V2244, which I’ve been using since early 2014, is a better way to keep your food fresh, and essential gear for Sous-vide. [FoodSaver V2244, $56]

Read more...

PETALING JAYA: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas)’s operating cashflow could fall by as much as 40% year-on-year in 2016, according to Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd.

By FMT and The Level

Muslim sushi lovers nearly choked on their ‘Hotate’ when rumours began circulating that one of the country’s largest sushi chains – the appropriately-named Sushi King – may not be halal. No wasabi was needed to make many weep as they pointed to the supposedly incriminating fact that none of the franchise’s outlets display JAKIM’s official ‘halal’ certificate.

In response to the growing furor, Sushi King bigwigs have stepped forward to categorically state that the wildly-popular sushi brand is indeed halal and certified by JAKIM.

We spoke to the founder and Executive Chairman of Texchem Resources Berhad (Sushi King’s parent company) – Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Fumihiko Konishi – during the launch of the chain’s 100th outlet in Malaysia, at AEON Shah Alam recently.

“We applied for the halal logo around 5 years ago, when our main source’s factory was in Thailand,” said Fumihiko. “But when a tragedy struck the factory, we had to find another source of supply, which was in Japan – and it was non-halal. That’s why we couldn’t proceed with the application for some time.

“But since then, we have tried our best to find reliable halal suppliers, and even made sure that we have more than one source,” he added.

“Now, we have established a halal supply chain, and applied for JAKIM’s halal certification. We will be officially certified in a few months”.

So Muslim fans of Sushi King can rest easy and continue nibbling their Hana Maki, as the Department of Islamic Advancement of Malaysia has indeed confirmed that their heretofore-beloved franchise is indeed above-board.

Sushi King itself is confident that the current confusion and hoo-ha will blow over, as more outlets are set to mushroom across the country in the near future (yay!), and plans are in place to expand the Malaysia-based brand to the rest of Southeast Asia.

Sushi King’s conveyor belt concept restaurant was the pioneer in bringing affordable sushi to Malaysia’s masses when it first opened its doors in 1995. Let’s hope it continues to serve and mass-welcome us with “Iraishaimase!!” for many years to come.

(And no – Sushi King is not our advertiser, and we were not paid to write a PR damage control piece!).

Based on an article published in FMT’s new youth portal, The Level.

PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS:  After news broke former PM Abdullah Badawi was appointed the new Petronas adviser today, Pak Lah himself revealed plans to redecorate his 86th floor office. “Badawi has his own mostly horizontal working style,” said a Petronas interiors spokesman, “black out curtains, mattress softness and sheet thread count will all need to meet […]

The post New Petronas Adviser Pak Lah Reveals Plan To Renovate 86th Floor Office appeared first on FMN.

KUALA LUMPUR: Liberal Muslims are deviants and the government will increase efforts to ensure such groups return to their traditional religious beliefs, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom said today.

Liberal beliefs, Jamil explained, included subscribing to pluralism, questioning the interpretation of the Quran and hadith (teachings and sayings of Prophet Muhammad), questioning the authenticity of the Quran and the practices of the prophets, among others.

“The government made its stance against liberalism clear in a 2006 declaration, during the 74th National Fatwa Council’s muzakarah (discussion),” he said in a written reply to Nik Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (PAS-Pasir Mas).

Nik Abduh had asked the Prime Minister’s Department to state Putrajaya’s efforts to curb the rise of liberal Islam in the country.

Jamil, who is in charge of Islamic Affairs, also said the government, via the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) would monitor liberal Muslims and may even consider censoring their publications, be it print or electronic media.

“Cooperation between religious authorities and security agencies would be increased to monitor deviant beliefs.”

Jamil also revealed that Jakim had been working with Islamic Affairs Departments nationwide to address the matter by issuing fatwas (religious edicts) to “control the spread of deviant beliefs”, as well as holding talks or seminars with liberal groups.

Tell your boss you're sick, and cancel all your evening plans: You have a Julia Child marathon to watch!

READ MORE »

Religious offerings of sugary drinks and fatty foods might bring good luck to Buddhist devotees in Thailand, but they’ve created a major health crisis for the monks consuming them. Nearly half of the country’s 300,000 holy men are believed to be obese and suffering from chronic diseases, a study...

PETALING JAYA: A headmaster who shared pornographic pictures and video clips in a WhatsApp chat group has been transferred to a rural school, a move that has angered many parents.

The parents are now questioning the Sabah Education Department’s decision to transfer the headmaster instead of taking sterner action against him.

“His behaviour is seriously worrying. How can the Education Department just transfer him to another school?

“They should pull him out of the school and place him at the department’s office pending a decision,” an irate parent, who wanted to remain anonymous, was reported by The Star as saying.

A member of the WhatsApp group, who immediately left after the headmaster was caught uploading and sharing pornographic pictures and videos, claimed that a Sandakan-based blogger had also raised concerns over the issue.

“The WhatsApp group has been deleted,” said the member, who declined to be named.

Sabah Education director Jame Alip meanwhile explained the decision to transfer the headmaster was an “immediate measure” taken by the department to calm the situation while investigations were underway.

“Many parents are angry and we understand this. This is why the best immediate measure is to first transfer the headmaster.

“This is an isolated case and we need to be very careful about how we handle it,” he said, adding that any further disciplinary action would be decided by the Education Ministry.

A ministry official said the most severe punishment the headmaster could receive was an outright sacking but added, “There are standard operating procedures which must be followed before the punishment goes to that level.

“Solid evidence must also be presented to support the case.”

National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said the headmaster should be sent for counselling, and that he had set a bad example for other school heads.

“However, this case is very subjective as there is no law stating that he is not allowed to do what he did,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: A hypermarket in Bukit Mertajam has proven than humanity trumps commercial interests by offering a man caught stealing from their premises, a job with them instead. The hypermarket also chose not to press charges against him.

According to an Astro Awani report, a 31-year-old jobless man was recently detained by security personnel at a Tesco branch in Bukit Mertajam for stealing fruit and canned drinks.

When questioned, the suspect confided that he resorted to stealing the goods because he had no money to buy food for his three children, aged between two and seven, who were starving. His wife was in hospital after suffering a miscarriage.

The hypermarket management however, decided not to press charges against the man, after verifying his predicament.

“We do not condone theft, but this case was different. We have done our checks and what the suspect told us was true.

“We empathise with him and understand he was forced to do what he did,” a Tesco spokesman was quoted as telling the portal.

In a rare show of humanity in this day and age, the hypermarket went a step further and even offered the suspect a job with them. It is unclear however whether he accepted the offer.

Police said no action would be taken against the suspect as there was no report lodged against him.

This is a scenario totally opposite to a recent incident where a woman was subjected to a fine of RM200, or in default, five days in jail, by the magistrate’s court after getting caught stealing a packet of Milo from a supermarket in Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur.

Javi destroyed all her feathers while living in conditions of deprivation and neglect.

But these days, since being rescued by Tallgrass Parrot Sanctuary in Kansas, USA, she’s finding the warmth and safety she needed all along — as well as a growing wardrobe full of sweaters for her bare little body.

“Since Javi arrived here at the sanctuary in September, she’s come a long way,” said Kail Marie, Tallgrass Parrot Sanctuary director and co-founder. “She has 24/7 attention now, either from her human ‘flock’ or from her cockatoo friend, Sassy.”

When Javi first arrived at the sanctuary, she bore the marks of her neglect. But soon Javi learned to trust people again.

“She is never locked in a cage and eats a healthy, varied diet,” Marie said. “While we do not know yet if she will ever allow her feathers to re-grow, we know that she stays happy and warm in her numerous sweaters.”

Warm, certainly — and she looks fabulous, to boot.

First published in www.PetFinder.my

Developing tools with which to slice and mash their food meant our ancestors needed to chew much less, leaving more time for honing language and other skills instead, evolutionary scientists said Wednesday.

About 2.5 million years ago, a big shift was observed in the hominin family comprising modern humans and all our ancestors — away from big teeth, jaws and chewing muscles.

But as mouths got smaller, brains and bodies got bigger, requiring more energy from food — a paradox that has long confounded scientists.

Some had suggest our ancestors got more nutrients from incorporating meat into their diet, while others pointed to the invention of cooking.

Yet smaller jaws emerged long before the earliest evidence, dated to about a million years ago, of hominin cooking.

“So one big question is: ‘What did humans do before they regularly had access to cooking?’,” said evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman of Harvard University in Massachusetts, who co-authored the study.

The answer: slicing and pounding, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

“What we’re arguing really is that simple processing could have made possible the selection that we see in the fossil record for smaller teeth and smaller jaws and smaller chewing muscles,” Lieberman told a teleconference ahead of the paper’s publication.

This kind of change “could be beneficial for a variety of adaptations such as the ability to speak better, to have better language abilities… maybe better locomotor function (movement).”

Chew and chew and chew

Lieberman and colleague Katherine Zink set up an experiment that involved monitoring people chew foods similar to what would have been available to prehistoric humans — goat meat, beets, carrots and yams.

To measure differences in chewing force exerted, the brave volunteers received their food in different formats — whole, sliced or pounded with a stone tool, raw or cooked.

Somewhat to their surprise, the researchers discovered that humans are very bad at chewing raw, unprocessed meat.

“If you provide somebody with a piece of raw meat, they will chew and chew and chew,” Zink said.

“It’s actually quite soft, but it’s very elastic. It’s almost like chewing gum in your mouth, so you don’t actually break it into lots of pieces.”

Cutting the meat vastly improved matters, and cooking it even more so, the team found — as did pounding and cooking the vegetables.

The scientists then applied their findings to what could have been the diet, about one third meat and two thirds vegetables, of early hominins with teeth similar in size to ours.

“What we found is that by simply slicing meat and pounding vegetables, a hominin would be able to reduce chewing effort, the number of chews they use, by about 17 percent,” said Zink.

“That equates to about two-and-a-half million fewer chews per year.”

The data implied it was not a shift to meat itself that boosted human nutrition and subsequent evolution, but having the means to make it edible — essentially a heavy stone for mashing, and a sharp flake for cutting.

All this long before cooking was invented.

Like hominins before they developed tools, chimpanzees today spend about half their day just chewing, the researchers said.

Their teeth, like ours, are designed to work more like mortars and pestles than like scissors or knives, as are canine jaws.

Mainly vegetarians, when chimps occasionally feast on a colobus monkey, it takes a very long time, Lieberman said.

“A chimpanzee has been observed spending 11 hours eating a single colobus monkey. Eleven hours is a long time to eat basically something the size of a cat,” he said.

“And that’s basically because the chimpanzee is unable to break the food down.”

– AFP Relaxnews

Many PC vendors market their laptops with 1366 by 768 screens as “high definition,” but these are not the laptops you deserve. Laptop Magazine argues that you should never settling for anything less than 1080p for your next laptop.

Read more...

Dumbbells are the unsung workhorse of the exercise world. They’re great in a home gym , and you can always grab a few even at a busy fitness center . Even people who work out with heavy iron or with nothing but their body tend to sneak in a few dumbbell moves from time to time.

Read more...

Here are six of the best photos that readers added to the Consumerist Flickr Pool in the last week, picked for usability in a Consumerist post or for just plain neatness.

Want to see your pictures on our site? Our Flickr pool is the place where Consumerist readers upload photos for possible use in future Consumerist posts. Just be a registered Flickr user, go here, and click “Join Group?” up on the top right. Choose your best photos, then click “send to group” on the individual images you want to add to the pool.

Passengers flying to/from Bangkok Don Mueang Airport (DMK) will soon have the option of staying at a new airport hotel adjacent to the terminal building: Sleep Box Don Mueang Airport Hotel.

Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok is popular for Budget Airlines such as Air Asia, Air Asia X, Scoot and Thai domestic airlines. It is about 40km distance to Bangkoks Main Airport and 26km to the city center.

For those who wonder, we receive many messages and emails asking about Bangkok airport transfers and overnight options such as transit and airport hotels. Not only for Bangkok but it’s one of the most popular destinations and ready inquiries.

Don Mueang Airport just opened it’s new Terminal 2 today and vastly improved the facilities.

Thai News Channel Thai PBS (access here) reported about the new opening and Sleep Box DMK.

AOT director Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said the opening of Terminal 2 will enable the airport to adequately  accommodate up to 30 million passengers a year.

After the opening the second terminal, he said AOT will then renovate the first terminal to be more modernised. He said Terminal 2 which is scheduled to open on Friday is filled with restaurants and stalls and toilets at 44 locations.

Besides, he said, AOT will also open “sleep box” service at Terminal 2 to serve night passengers who have to wait for late night flights.

There will be 25 sleep boxes altogether, but initially only five will be on service, he said.

The service fee will be based on hours spent.

How does this product look like? We got a glimpse through the TV report.

As you can see the room is pretty basic and I’m not sure how quiet either of these 25 ‘Sleep Boxes’ are but it’s a decent option.

What about the price?

Sleep Box rates start at THB1,000 for the first three hours with an additional THB200/hr thereafter. A whole night will run THB1,800 which is about the price of 3.5* non chain hotel in the city.

Should you require just shower you can take advantage of this for a nominal fee of 300 THB.

Conclusion

The price is reasonable but if you spend more than a few hours then you might want to consider staying in the city instead.

I’ve used Don Mueang twice and didn’t find it to be a very nice experience. With the opening of Terminal 2 it might be much better so maybe I pay them a visit sometime when I need a Scoot or Air Asia flight again.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Internet Scams study shows that the top three scams in Malaysia are ‘work from home’ fraud (30%); internet auction scams; (22%) and online dating scams (20%).

PETALING JAYA: The sale of fake parking stickers for the disabled (OKU) is making it difficult for genuinely disabled motorists to find parking spaces on roadsides and in shopping malls.

Members of the Damai Disabled Persons Association have complained that the fake stickers are being sold in several places including shopping malls, commercial areas and hardware shops for anything between RM7 and RM20.

The association’s president V Murugeswaran said drivers with disabilities could only obtain authentic stickers from the Road Transport Department (JPJ) after getting their physical condition assessed.

“We are sad that there is also a lack of enforcement by the local authorities. It seems that the irresponsible drivers are not worried about being fined,” The Star Online quoted him as saying.

He added that stiffer penalties were needed to deter the abuse of disabled parking spots.

Murugeswaran also hoped the authorities could consider introducing a system similar in Germany and other countries where a machine could send photos of vehicles without proper stickers immediately to the police or the local authorities so prompt action could be taken against the offending parties.

When asked to comment on the abuse of special parking bays for the disabled, CEO of Sunway Shopping Mall, H C Chan said the use of OKU parking stickers was based on trust and that if the car had a sticker, there was little the shopping mall’s management could do.

“But if guards see a healthy person parking in the OKU space, they will take action,” the news portal reported him as saying.

 

So, your boss is a workaholic and expects you to emulate her? Whether that means working ridiculous hours, inhaling lunch at your desk (or skipping it altogether), and even sacrificing your weekends, reporting to a person like this can be taxing on both your career and home life.

Read more...

If you do a lot of printing, the Arial font can use up your ink a lot faster than others. Here are three fonts you’re better off using.

Read more...

We've all been out to brunch and had that moment when our food comes, the light is streaming in through the open window, and you just need to get that perfect shot for Instagram. You awkwardly pull out your phone, and try to quickly snap a shot overhead hoping your friends don't notice. But of course they notice. And then one of your friends rolls her eyes and makes some remark about social media being the end of humanity.

Well, too bad for that friend: Taking a photo of your food might actually make it taste better. You're just doing yourself a favor.

READ MORE »

Kuala Lumpur: Visually im­­paired children can now have access to a special library.

Robert Bosch GmbH is taking on US technology rivals by launching its own "cloud" computing network to connect up anything from cars to dishwashers via the Internet.