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| Latest News |
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Rice bowl state runs out of grain |
| Posted By: 芙蓉楓 @ May 4 2008, 10:48 AM |
| QUOTE | Sunday May 4, 2008
Rice bowl state runs out of grain
ALOR STAR: Subsidised local rice is said to be no longer available in the state and the Government has directed an investigation into the matter.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad, who called on the Control of Padi and Rice Division to do so, said he wanted to know why such rice was no longer available.
“I have asked the division (which comes under the Agriculture and Agrobased Industry Ministry) to check.
“On matters concerning rice, the Consumer Affairs Ministry's enforcement unit can only assist the division,” he said when contacted yesterday.
He said this when responding to complaints from Kedah consumers and traders that they could no longer get the local (ST) super grade rice.
ST, which contains 15% broken grains, is the cheapest rice available. The controlled price of the ST grade rice is between RM16.50 and RM17.50 for a 10kg packet.
Agricuture and Agrobased Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed has directed Bernas to ensure there’s enough supply of local super grade rice.
He said Bernas had an obligation to ensure the price-controlled item was available to consumers at all times.
“It was part of the conditions imposed on Bernas upon privatisation,” he said.
He has also directed the deputy secretary-general of the Agriculture Department to check the situation in Kedah.
“The situation is probably because the demand for the cheaper rice has increased in view of escalating prices for other grades of rice. Furthermore, the ST grade is also used for bee hoon production.”
Consumers Association of Kedah (Cake) president Datuk Yusoff Ismail said it was crucial to ensure there was enough stock of ST grade rice as it catered to the lower income group.
He also called on the authorities to check the indiscriminate increase in the price of other grades and types of rice that are currently not controlled.
Yusoff said the price of rice had gone up between RM2 and RM5 per 10kg packet.
He added that he had also received complaints that the price of flour and noodles had also increased.
A spokesman from the Control of Padi and Rice Division said there was little demand for the ST grade rice previously.
“But now, because of the increase in the price of other types of rice, people are starting to demand for it.
“We will direct the factories to start supplying ST grade rice to cater to the demand,” he said. |
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Driver killed in train crash |
| Posted By: 芙蓉楓 @ May 4 2008, 10:46 AM |
| QUOTE | Sunday May 4, 2008
Driver killed in train crash
By SARBAN SINGH
SEREMBAN: The driver of a Singapore-bound Ekspres Rakyat train was killed when the locomotive derailed near here yesterday.
Twelve of the train’s 210 passengers were injured in the 3.35pm incident, which occurred near Rahang New Village next to the Seremban-Tampin trunk road.
The locomotive and the first coach of the train, which had 12 coaches, jumped the rails and landed upside down in the mud next to the tracks.
Accident site: Rescue personnel helping some of the passengers out of the derailed Ekspres Rakyat train on the Seremban-Tampin trunk road near Seremban Saturday.
Two other coaches went off the tracks and rolled down a steep slope into Sungai Rahang, which flows parallel to the railway line. Three more coaches were also derailed.
The Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) train had just left Seremban station when the incident happened.
State Fire and Rescue Department chief Salleh Sarbini said the driver, Yahaya Osman, 40, died on the spot.
“We had to dig him out as he was buried in the mud,” he said.
Injured passenger: Civil Defence personnel wheeling a female train passenger into the Tunku Ja’afar Hospital.
He said all passengers were evacuated within 30 minutes and those injured were sent to the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital (TJH) for treatment.
Passengers who were not injured were ferried on buses to the Tampin station 40km away where they boarded another train for Singapore.
Personnel from the Civil Defence Department, KTMB and motorists also helped out in the rescue work.
State police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said six of the 12 injured were Singaporeans.
Passenger evacuation: Some of the passengers leaving the crash site with their belongings. Passengers were later ferried on buses to the Tampin station where they boarded another train for Singapore.
“One female passenger was admitted to the TJH for back and neck injuries,” he said, adding that the others were given outpatient treatment.
KTMB managing director Datuk Mohd Salleh Abdullah, who was also at the scene, said it was too early to establish the cause of the derailment.
“We will certainly conduct a thorough investigation,” he said, adding that the driver had been with KTM for more than 20 years.
Salleh said it would take more than 24 hours to clear the tracks for train services to resume.
“In the meantime, we will ferry the south-bound passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Gemas and vice versa,” he said.
The area where the accident happened was low-lying and had suffered flash floods during the recent wet spell.
Earthworks are also being carried out nearby for the expansion of the Seremban-Tampin stretch as well as the building of a flyover. |
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Users fight to save Windows XP |
| Posted By: 芙蓉楓 @ Apr 15 2008, 01:33 PM |
| QUOTE | By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Technology Writer Mon Apr 14, 7:49 AM ET
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp.'s operating systems run most personal computers around the globe and are a cash cow for the world's largest software maker. But you'd never confuse a Windows user with the passionate fans of Mac OS X or even the free Linux operating system. Unless it's someone running Windows XP, a version Microsoft wants to retire.
Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves in June have papered the Internet with blog posts, cartoons and petitions recently. They trumpet its superiority to Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest PC operating system, whose consumer launch last January was greeted with lukewarm reviews.
No matter how hard Microsoft works to persuade people to embrace Vista, some just can't be wowed. They complain about Vista's hefty hardware requirements, its less-than-peppy performance, occasional incompatibility with other programs and devices and frequent, irritating security pop-up windows.
For them, the impending disappearance of XP computers from retailers, and the phased withdrawal of technical support in coming years, is causing a minor panic.
Take, for instance, Galen Gruman. A longtime technology journalist, Gruman is more accustomed to writing about trends than starting them.
But after talking to Windows users for months, he realized his distaste for Vista and strong attachment to XP were widespread.
"It sort of hit us that, wait a minute, XP will be gone as of June 30. What are we going to do?" he said. "If no one does something, it's going to be gone."
So Gruman started a Save XP Web petition, gathering since January more than 100,000 signatures and thousands of comments, mostly from die-hard XP users who want Microsoft to keep selling it until the next version of Windows is released, currently targeted for 2010.
On the petition site's comments section, some users proclaimed they will downgrade from Vista to XP — an option available in the past to businesses, but now open for the first time to consumers who buy Vista Ultimate or Business editions — if they need to buy a new computer after XP goes off the market.
Others used the comments section to rail against the very idea that Microsoft has the power to enforce the phase-out from a stable, decent product to one that many consider worse, while profiting from the move. Many threatened to leave Windows for Apple or Linux machines.
Microsoft already extended the XP deadline once, but it shows no signs it will do so again. The company has declined to meet with Gruman to consider the petition. Microsoft is aware of the petition, it said in a statement to The Associated Press, and "will continue to be guided by feedback we hear from partners and customers about what makes sense based on their needs."
Gruman said he'd keep pressing for a meeting.
"They really believe if they just close their eyes, people will have no choice," he said.
In fact, most people who get a new computer will end up with Vista. In 2008, 94 percent of new Windows machines for consumers worldwide will run Vista, forecasts industry research group IDC. For businesses, about 75 percent of new PCs will have Vista. (That figure takes into account companies that choose to downgrade to XP.)
Although Microsoft may not budge on selling new copies of XP, it may have to extend support for it.
Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support — including warranty claims and free help with problems — in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.
Gillen said efforts like Gruman's grass-roots petition may not influence the software maker, but business customers' demands should carry more clout.
"You really can't make 69 percent of your installed base unhappy with you," he said.
Some companies — such as Wells Manufacturing Co. in Woodstock, Ill. — are crossing their fingers that he's right. The company, which melts scrap steel and casts iron bars, has 200 PCs that run Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows 2000 is no longer sold on PCs. Mainstream support has ended, but limited support is available through the middle of 2010.)
Wells usually replaces 50 of its PCs every 18 months. In the most recent round of purchases, Chief Information Officer Lou Peterhans said, the company stuck with XP because several of its applications don't run well on Vista.
"There is no strong reason to go to Vista, other than eventually losing support for XP," he said. Peterhans added that the company isn't planning to bring in Vista computers for 18 months to two years. If Microsoft keeps to its current timetable, its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, will be on the market by then.
___
On the Net:
Save XP Petition: http://weblog.infoworld.com/save-xp/
Microsoft's Windows support timeline: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy
@ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080414/ap_on_...crosoft_save_xp |
So, save Windows XP and let Vista take over? Or just let it die?!
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Astro told to buck up |
| Posted By: 芙蓉楓 @ Apr 8 2008, 07:39 PM |
| QUOTE | Tuesday April 8, 2008
Astro told to buck up
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS
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PUTRAJAYA: Astro will not be allowed to introduce new channels until the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is satisfied with its efforts to enhance present services to its two million over subscribers.
Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said there were a host of problems that Astro needed to iron out following complaints by its customers. These include matters like poor service, billing problems and charges that burden users.
He said among complaints were a charge of RM10 for late payment, RM20 for re-connection and a fee of RM50 for services provided by the technical team. He added that another major grouse was that Astro services would be unavailable during bad weather.
Shaziman said the ministry would also want to see Astro "migrate" to the Communication and Multimedia Act as promised since 1997 before the company could introduce any new packages and programmes.
"We want to ensure Astro sorts out the present problems at hand as the commission has received countless complaints by its users, demanding the authorities take action.
"We also want Astro, which is currently offering 126 channels, to be governed under the Act, not only for better enforcement and monitoring, but also for the benefit of its subscribers," he said.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the commission headquarters Tuesday, Shaziman said Astro has until the end of the year to "migrate" over to the new Act, adding that the company had been given ample time to do so, adding the move was necessary as the Broadcasting and Telecom Acts, which had governed Astro when it was established, had since been abolished.
Asked if Astro could be forced to "migrate" to the Act, he said: "I am hoping that we do not have to resort to that. I do not know why there is a delay but I suppose the service provider feels there is no urgency to do so.
"However, I feel the time is right for them to do so now and I will see to it that the move is made this year," he said.
Shaziman also wants the company to sit down with MCMC to discuss on how best to sell its packages, saying the public could do with rates lower than the present RM39.
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Viruses Expected to Hit 1 Million This Year |
| Posted By: 芙蓉楓 @ Apr 8 2008, 06:03 PM |
| QUOTE | Viruses Expected to Hit 1 Million This Year
Darren Pauli, Computerworld Australia
The total number of viruses will reach one million by year's end, according to security experts.
Malware writers have been forced to create new types of viruses and exploits more regularly as businesses and individuals improve security practices, the experts said.
Sophos chief technology officer Paul Ducklin said about 25 percent of unique malware has been created in the last six months of its 20 year history.
"About 85 to 90 percent of malware families have a fix created for them almost immediately," Ducklin said.
"Malware writers aren't getting the same bang for buck as they used to because businesses and consumers have become much more diligent with security over the last five years.
"The number of infectious e-mail attachments getting through are down from about one in 40 [about five years ago] to one in 1000."
He said the decline in infections are due to better gateway filters, more relevant corporate policies and user education, and dilution from a rise in legitimate e-mail traffic.
While the security industry is on top of conventional spam and phishing attacks, more effort needs to be put into preventing and eliminating so-called drive-by-downloads, according to Ducklin.
The attacks allow hackers to redirect mass amounts of traffic by inserting malicious iframes into legitimate Web sites. The hacks are usually invisible to Web site visitors and do not often draw attention from security personnel because they only require a single line of code to be manipulated.
He said it is essential that the exploit is patched because hackers search for compromised sites for follow-up attacks.
F-Secure Asia Pacific vise president Jari Heinonen said it logs about 25,000 malware samples each day, the highest on record.
"The total number of viruses and Trojans will pass the one million mark by the end of 2008 if this trend continues," Heinonen said.
"While there are more viruses than ever before, people report seeing less of them [because] malware authors are changing their tactics.
"Drive-by downloads are the preferred way of spreading malware [because] they happen automatically by visiting a Web site, unless users have a fully patched operating system, browser and plug-ins."
Heinonen said malware will increasing target the kernel sector through rootkits such as Mebroot, which attacks the bootstrap sector.
A resurgent Mebroot was detected last month, some 15 years after the DOS-based malware was created. |
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