mindblog… my blog.

No.. you didn’t hear me wrong, the petrol price in Malaysia has been announced to be increased right after 12am today (4/06/2008). The increment, for petrol, from RM 1.92 (per litre) to RM 2.70 (per litre), 78cents / 41% of increment. For diesel, from currently RM1.58 (per litre) to RM 2.58 (per liter), RM1.00 / 63% of increment !!.. And that’s not the end of the story yet.. the after effect of petrol price increment will result price hike in other things as well, especially groceries, foods and drinks..

This is the biggest increment of petrol price in Malaysia history !!
chart from malaysiakini

The New Subsidy Plans.

for motorcycles, RM 120 a year

for vehicles 2000cc and below, RM 625 a year for 800 litre of petrol. How they are going to pay us ? When you pay your road taxes.

If you use more than 800 litre of petrol a day, then no more RM1.92 per litre for you.
I have did some simple calculations here,

RM 625 subsidy for 800 litre, which means
RM 0.78 subsidy for each litre, (RM 0.78 ?? sounds familiar ?? yay, that’s the increment on the petrol !!)
thus, price after subsidy = RM 1.92 per litre, for first 800 litre of petrol.

How about 800 litre and above ?? RM 2.70 per litre.. lol..
So are you affected with the new rate ?
Again, simple calculations,

800 litre a year , which means
800/365.25 = 2.19 litre a day,
2.19 x RM 1.92 = RM 4.20
RM 4.20 a day, means
RM 29.40 a week.

Conclusion, if you use less than RM 4.20 petrol a day (or RM 29.40 a week) before this, you are not affected with the new rate, in fact, you might save some bucks, AND,

if you use more than RM 4.20 petrol a day (or RM 29.40 a week) before the price hike, LOL… you will be paying more than before.

AND, ask around, Who in Malaysia would use less than RM 4.20 petrol a day before this ?? Even motorcycles could easily use more than that..

Use less than 2.19 litre of petrol a day and you are saved !!

In the end, MOST of us if not ALL of us,are affected..

The new subsidy plan is told will help the government to save up to RM 4million.
Where will this RM4 million go to ??
LOL.. Is that a question ?? Captain Obvious to the rescue please..

Why they did it ? They did it for the lulz..

tl:tr summary

RON97 Petrol RM2.70 per litre from RM1.92 per litre
RON92 Petrol RM2.62 per litre from RM1.88 per litre
Diesel RM2.58 per litre RM1.58 per litre

If you pay attention to local news, u might have heard that someone just said the petrol price might be increased in August 2008, of course, he was smart, he wouldn’t tell when was the fixed date, and he just gave us a big surprise today. YAY !!! Well, we do know that things like this always happen..
MALAYSIA BOLEH !!

What is Ubiquitous Computing ?

I have to write 3000 words about Ubiquitous computing for this assignment, so as usual, will ask Google first, before some one say “JFGI” to me..

Quoted From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing

Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. As opposed to the desktop paradigm, in which a single user consciously engages a single device for a specialized purpose, someone “using” ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems simultaneously, in the course of ordinary activities, and may not necessarily even be aware that they are doing so.

This paradigm is also described as pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, or more recently, everyware.^[1][2] When primarily concerning the objects involved, it is also physical computing, the Internet of Things, haptic computing,^[3] and things that think.

Core concept

At their core, all models of ubiquitous computing share a vision of small, inexpensive, robust networked processing devices, distributed at all scales throughout everyday life and generally turned to distinctly quotidian ends. For example, a domestic ubiquitous computing environment might interconnect lighting and environmental controls with personal biometric monitors woven into clothing so that illumination and heating conditions in a room might be modulated, continuously and imperceptibly. Another common scenario posits refrigerators “aware” of their suitably-tagged contents, able to both plan a variety of menus from the food actually on hand, and warn users of stale or spoiled food.

Contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether command-line, menu-driven, or GUI-based, are inappropriate and inadequate to the ubiquitous case. This suggests that the “natural” interaction paradigm appropriate to a fully robust ubiquitous computing has yet to emerge - although there is also recognition in the field that in many ways we are already living in an ubicomp world. Contemporary devices that lend some support to this latter idea include mobile phones, digital audio players, radio-frequency identification tags and interactive whiteboards.

To develop ubiquitous and pervasive applications, one should identify the most suitable interaction paradigm according to Gaber’s classification for Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing

History

Mark Weiser coined the phrase “ubiquitous computing” around 1988, during his tenure as Chief Technologist of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Both alone and with John Seely Brown, Weiser wrote some of the earliest papers on the subject, largely defining it and sketching out its major concerns. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Recognizing that the extension of processing power into everyday scenarios would necessitate understandings of social, cultural and psychological phenomena beyond its proper ambit, Weiser was influenced by many fields outside computer science, including “philosophy, phenomenology, anthropology, psychology, post-Modernism, sociology of science and feminist criticism.” He was explicit about “the humanistic origins of the ‘invisible ideal in post-modernist thought’”, ^[6] referencing as well the ironically dystopian Philip K. Dick novel Ubik.

MIT has also contributed significant research in this field, notably Hiroshi Ishii’s Things That Think consortium at the Media Lab ^[7] and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen.^[8] Other major contributors include Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, UCIrvine’s Department of Informatics, Microsoft Research, Intel Research and Equator, Ajou-University UCRi & CUS.^[9]

tl;tr ?

Conclusion,

Ubiquitous Computing, computing where the users will not aware that they are actually doing some computing works. It is just like sometimes your didn’t realize that your were breathing..

really have to get some ideas, luckily I have watched Iron Man, but that’s not enough, I need something more powerful and Sci-Fi ++. Matrix Trilogy ? That’s way too overkilled..lol

Instead, I found something much down to earth,that is, a 6 years old popular movie, Minority Report.. lol..