Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra in Sanskrit
(Taisho Tripitaka 0256)
prajna paramita hridaya sutra
(perfect wisdom heart sutra)
aryavalokitesvaro bodhisattvo
(Saintly Avalokateshvara bodhisattva)
gambhiram prajnaparamita caryam caramano vyavalokayati
(deep perfect wisdom action perform luminously)
sma panca skandhas tams ca sva bhava sunyam
(saw five bundles them own nature empty)
pasyati sma iha sariputra
(crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty. Shariputra:)
rupam sunyata (...) va rupam rupan na prithak
(form emptiness evidently form form not different)
sunyata sunyataya na prithag rupam
(emptiness emptiness not different form)
yad rupam sa sunyata ya sunyata sa rupam
(this form that emptiness this emptiness that form)
evam eva vedana samjna samskara vijnanam
(like this feeling thought choice consiousness)
iha sariputra sarva dharma sunyata
(oh Sariputra all dharmas emptiness)
laksana anutpanna anruddha avmala anuna aparpurna
(mark not born not pure not increase not decrease ?)
ta (...) sariputra sunyatayam
(therefore Sariputra in the middle of emptiness)
na rupam na vedana na samjna na samskara na vijnana
(no form no feeling no thought no choice no consciousness)
na caksuh srotam na ghrana jihva kaya manah
(no eye ear no nose tongue body mind)
na rupa sabda gandha rasa spistavya dharmah
(no form sound smell taste touch dharmas)
na caksur dhatur ya van na mano vijnanam dhatur
(no eye-area up to no mind-consciousness area)
na vidya na vidya na vidya ksayo na(*) vidya ksayo
(no clarity no clarity no clarity exhaustion no clarity exhaustion)
ya van jaramaranam na jaramarana ksayo
(up to old age no old age exhaustion)
na duhkha samudaya nirdoha margajna
(no suffering end of suffering path)
na jnanam na prapti na bhismaya tasmai na prapti
(no knowledge no ownership no witnessing no thing to own)
tvad bodhisattva prajnaparamita asritya
(therefore bodhisattva perfect wisdom dwells)
viha ratya citta varano vidya ksayo na vidya ksayo
(in dwell thought no obstacle clarity exhaustion not clairty exhaustion)
ya van jaramaranam na jaramarana ksayo
(up to old age no old age exhaustion)
na duhkha samudaya nirodha margajna
(no suffering end of suffering path)
na jnanam na prapti na bhismaya tasmai na prapti
(no knowledge no property no witnessing no thing to own)
tvad bodhisattvanam prajnaparamita asritya
(therefore bodhisattva perfect wisdom dwells)
viha ratya citta varano citta varano
(in dwell thought no obstacle thought no obstacle)
na siddhitvad atrasto vipa ryasa ti kranto
(no existence fear fright inverse reverse ? separate)
ni stha nirvana tya dha vyava sthitah
(perfectly stands nirvana three worlds thing experiences)
sarva buddhah prajnaparamitam asritya
(all buddhas perfect wisdom dwell)
(a?)nuttaram samyaksambodhim abdhisambuddhah
(unexcelled ultimate perfect insight together ? buddhas)
ta smai jnata vyam
(therefore should know ?)
prajna paramita maha mantram maha vidyamantram
(perfect wisdom great charm great clear charm)
anuttara mantram asamasama mantram
(unexcelled charm unequalled equal charm)
sarva duhkha prasa manam sa tyam ami thyatvat
(all suffering stop terminate genuine real not vain)
prajna paramita yam ukto mantrah tadyatha
(perfect wisdom declaired charm saying)
GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA
(gone gone totally gone totally completely gone enlightened so be it)
- wong chee tat :)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Chile quake wave racing to Asia at jet speed: scientist
Chile quake wave racing to Asia at jet speed: scientist
February 27, 2010
Enlarge
"Mid-ocean, the wave is traveling at around the speed of a jet plane," Bilham told AFP.
"The amplitude of the wave is small when it's mid-ocean, but it may rise to five to 10 meters when it reaches Japan or the Philippines," he said.
A huge arc of nations around the Pacific, from New Zealand to Japan, have gone on tsunami alert, while sirens sounded warnings of destructive waves around Hawaii for the first time in 16 years.
The powerful 8.8-magnitude quake that rattled Chile in the early hours of Saturday occurred offshore in a subduction zone -- the point where two tectonic plates meet and one plunges beneath the other.
The undersea earthquake that set off the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed some 200,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, was also a subduction earthquake.
"Subduction zone earthquakes produce the world largest tsunamis because the sea floor moves like a piston, heaving 100 kilometer by 50 kilometer (60 miles x 30 miles) or larger regions of sea floor water up or down," Bilham told AFP.
Walls of water of up to four meters (13 feet) crashed ashore in French Polynesia and the Marquesas Islands hours after the quake had rattled Chile.
But the tsunamis caused only minor damage and no casualties as they rampaged across the Pacific, where authorities had sounded warning sirens and urged residents of coastal areas to move to higher ground.
The tidal waves that devastated parts of southern Asia in 2004 struck without warning. It was after that deadly series of monster waves that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, set up after a tsunami unleashed by a 9.5-magnitude earthquake in Chile in 1960, beefed up its warning system.
"This time, we're ready for the tsunamis. When the waves hit Hawaii, there will be cameras there to catch them," said Bilham.
"This is a huge success," he said.
- wong chee tat :)
February 27, 2010
Enlarge
A wave hits the coast of the Hakahau city in
the French Polynesia Marquesas Ua Pou island. A tsunami triggered by the
powerful quake that rocked Chile was Saturday racing across the Pacific
Ocean towards Hawaii and Asia at around 450 miles per hour, a quake
expert said.
A tsunami triggered by the powerful quake that rocked
Chile was Saturday racing across the Pacific Ocean towards Hawaii and
Asia at around 450 miles per hour, a quake expert said.
Estimating the depth of the wave's water column to be
around four kilometers (2.4 miles) on average, Roger Bilham, a professor
of geological sciences at the University of Colorado, calculated that
at mid-ocean, the mass of water would be hurtling toward Hawaii at 200
meters per second, or 720 kilometers per hour (446 mph)."Mid-ocean, the wave is traveling at around the speed of a jet plane," Bilham told AFP.
"The amplitude of the wave is small when it's mid-ocean, but it may rise to five to 10 meters when it reaches Japan or the Philippines," he said.
A huge arc of nations around the Pacific, from New Zealand to Japan, have gone on tsunami alert, while sirens sounded warnings of destructive waves around Hawaii for the first time in 16 years.
The powerful 8.8-magnitude quake that rattled Chile in the early hours of Saturday occurred offshore in a subduction zone -- the point where two tectonic plates meet and one plunges beneath the other.
The undersea earthquake that set off the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed some 200,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, was also a subduction earthquake.
"Subduction zone earthquakes produce the world largest tsunamis because the sea floor moves like a piston, heaving 100 kilometer by 50 kilometer (60 miles x 30 miles) or larger regions of sea floor water up or down," Bilham told AFP.
Walls of water of up to four meters (13 feet) crashed ashore in French Polynesia and the Marquesas Islands hours after the quake had rattled Chile.
But the tsunamis caused only minor damage and no casualties as they rampaged across the Pacific, where authorities had sounded warning sirens and urged residents of coastal areas to move to higher ground.
The tidal waves that devastated parts of southern Asia in 2004 struck without warning. It was after that deadly series of monster waves that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, set up after a tsunami unleashed by a 9.5-magnitude earthquake in Chile in 1960, beefed up its warning system.
"This time, we're ready for the tsunamis. When the waves hit Hawaii, there will be cameras there to catch them," said Bilham.
"This is a huge success," he said.
- wong chee tat :)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The safe way to use one Internet password
The safe way to use one Internet password
February 25, 2010
(PhysOrg.com) -- A little-used Internet authentication system from the 1980s could provide the answer for enabling web users to securely log in only once per Internet session, a Queensland University of Technology researcher has found.
PhD researcher Suriadi, from QUT's Information Security Institute, said a secure single-sign on system was more than simply using the same password for multiple accounts.
Mr Suriadi said any future single-sign on systems, which could potentially give web users access to a multitude of accounts, including email, bank and shopping, would require extreme privacy to avoid information spies and account hackers.
"Single-sign on systems are already being used by organisations," he said.
"For example, a bank could link their Internet banking site to an online trading site, thus relieving users from having to perform an extra log in step.
"However, if one of the parties is compromised, for example by a virus, a 'denial of service' attack or insecure set-up, it puts all the user's linked accounts at risk."
javascript:void(0)
Mr Suriadi said his research investigated a little-used "anonymous credential system" which dates back to the 1980s, but recently received renewed interest from the research community.
"Using this credential system, we could enhance the security and privacy of a single sign-on system," he said.
"The system works by revealing as little information about who you are as necessary for logging into an account, therefore allowing you to remain anonymous.
"This way, a company wouldn't be able to track your shopping habits and target spam or marketing at you. This method could also confirm you are over 18 and not reveal your birthday."
Mr Suriadi said a single sign-on system backed by the anonymous credential system required the cooperation of businesses and organisations to enable it.
"One use of this could be for the research community, with online libraries and databases applying the anonymous credential system so that the privacy of researchers can be preserved," he said.
"This would be useful for people researching sensitive issues."
Mr Suriadi said for the purposes of accountability, such a system would also allow authorities to revoke users' anonymity in cases of illegal activity.
More information: Suriadi, S., Foo, E., and Jøsang, A. 2009. A user-centric federated single sign-on system. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 32, 2 (Mar. 2009), 388-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2008.02.016
- wong chee tat :)
February 25, 2010
(PhysOrg.com) -- A little-used Internet authentication system from the 1980s could provide the answer for enabling web users to securely log in only once per Internet session, a Queensland University of Technology researcher has found.
PhD researcher Suriadi, from QUT's Information Security Institute, said a secure single-sign on system was more than simply using the same password for multiple accounts.
Mr Suriadi said any future single-sign on systems, which could potentially give web users access to a multitude of accounts, including email, bank and shopping, would require extreme privacy to avoid information spies and account hackers.
"Single-sign on systems are already being used by organisations," he said.
"For example, a bank could link their Internet banking site to an online trading site, thus relieving users from having to perform an extra log in step.
"However, if one of the parties is compromised, for example by a virus, a 'denial of service' attack or insecure set-up, it puts all the user's linked accounts at risk."
javascript:void(0)
Mr Suriadi said his research investigated a little-used "anonymous credential system" which dates back to the 1980s, but recently received renewed interest from the research community.
"Using this credential system, we could enhance the security and privacy of a single sign-on system," he said.
"The system works by revealing as little information about who you are as necessary for logging into an account, therefore allowing you to remain anonymous.
"This way, a company wouldn't be able to track your shopping habits and target spam or marketing at you. This method could also confirm you are over 18 and not reveal your birthday."
Mr Suriadi said a single sign-on system backed by the anonymous credential system required the cooperation of businesses and organisations to enable it.
"One use of this could be for the research community, with online libraries and databases applying the anonymous credential system so that the privacy of researchers can be preserved," he said.
"This would be useful for people researching sensitive issues."
Mr Suriadi said for the purposes of accountability, such a system would also allow authorities to revoke users' anonymity in cases of illegal activity.
More information: Suriadi, S., Foo, E., and Jøsang, A. 2009. A user-centric federated single sign-on system. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 32, 2 (Mar. 2009), 388-401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2008.02.016
- wong chee tat :)
Watching curvaceous women feels like drugs to men: study
Watching curvaceous women feels like drugs to men: study
February 25, 2010 by Lin Edwards hourglass
(PhysOrg.com) -- It has long been known that men find an "hourglass" figure the most attractive shape for the female body, and now scientists have found out why.
Research across a variety of cultures has demonstrated that men typically find the curvaceous female form sexually attractive. Other studies have shown that wide hips in women are associated with health and reproductive potential, so the attraction makes evolutionary sense.
Scientists from Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, studied the responses of 14 men with an average age of 25 to nude photographs of women before and after undergoing cosmetic surgery that redistributed fat from their waists to the buttocks to give them more of an hourglass figure. The operations did not reduce the weight of the women, but gave them an “optimal” Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) of about 0.7.
The fMRI brain scans of the male subjects showed the post-surgery pictures activated the same regions of the brain that are activated by rewards, alcohol and drugs. Changes to women’s body mass index (BMI) did not affect the reward centers, but instead activated brain areas associated with the visual recognition of shape and size. This suggests judgments of female attractiveness based on body fat are based on society expectations rather than being hard-wired in the brain.
Steven Platek, an evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, said the research may help explain why some men are addicted to pornography, and may also shed some light on other disorders “such as erectile dysfunction in the absence of pornography,” and add to our study of sexual infidelity. It also helps explain phenomena such as sexual harassment and whistling at curvaceous girls in the street. Platek said the BMI results suggest the female form projected by the media, of skinny waif-like models, is not the most attractive to men, and curves are worth their reproductive weight in gold.
The research paper, by Platek and Devendra Singh, presents the first description of the effect of WHR on men’s brains. It was published online in PLoS One on February 5.
More information: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009042
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
February 25, 2010 by Lin Edwards hourglass
(PhysOrg.com) -- It has long been known that men find an "hourglass" figure the most attractive shape for the female body, and now scientists have found out why.
Research across a variety of cultures has demonstrated that men typically find the curvaceous female form sexually attractive. Other studies have shown that wide hips in women are associated with health and reproductive potential, so the attraction makes evolutionary sense.
Scientists from Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia, studied the responses of 14 men with an average age of 25 to nude photographs of women before and after undergoing cosmetic surgery that redistributed fat from their waists to the buttocks to give them more of an hourglass figure. The operations did not reduce the weight of the women, but gave them an “optimal” Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) of about 0.7.
The fMRI brain scans of the male subjects showed the post-surgery pictures activated the same regions of the brain that are activated by rewards, alcohol and drugs. Changes to women’s body mass index (BMI) did not affect the reward centers, but instead activated brain areas associated with the visual recognition of shape and size. This suggests judgments of female attractiveness based on body fat are based on society expectations rather than being hard-wired in the brain.
Steven Platek, an evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, said the research may help explain why some men are addicted to pornography, and may also shed some light on other disorders “such as erectile dysfunction in the absence of pornography,” and add to our study of sexual infidelity. It also helps explain phenomena such as sexual harassment and whistling at curvaceous girls in the street. Platek said the BMI results suggest the female form projected by the media, of skinny waif-like models, is not the most attractive to men, and curves are worth their reproductive weight in gold.
The research paper, by Platek and Devendra Singh, presents the first description of the effect of WHR on men’s brains. It was published online in PLoS One on February 5.
More information: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0009042
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
Submarine cable operator Pacnet to build 13 data centers across Asia
Submarine cable operator Pacnet to build 13 data centers across Asia
In run-up to expected IPO, network provider plans to convert landing stations to data centers (2/23/2010)
In run-up to expected IPO, network provider plans to convert landing stations to data centers (2/23/2010)
 | |
Network operator Pacnet announced on Tuesday an ambitious plan,
whereby the company will step into the data center provider market,
converting the landing facilities of its submarine cable network in Asia
into data centers.
Pacnet CEO
Bill Barney told Reuters that the company would invest about
$300 million over the next three years, building 10 smaller data centers
and three large ones throughout Asia. According to the news service,
the move is part of the company’s diversification process as it prepares
for an IPO.
“Over the
past few years, we have seen exponential growth in the demand for data
center hosting services and customized applications,” Barney said in a
prepared statement. “Pacnet's cable landing facilities across
Asia are
equipped with massive power, space and capacity, therefore, it is a
natural step for us to move forward in building DLS (data landing
station) facilities to support immediate demands in the marketplace.”
In the
project’s initial phase, Pacnet is planning to launch three data centers
by the end of 2010, with additional sites coming online in 2011.
Locations and details for phase one were not disclosed on Tuesday.
Pacnet
currently operates landing facilities for its submarine fiber lines in Hong Kong, China, Singapore,
Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the
Philippines.
While
building the smaller facilities by itself, Pacnet is planning to partner
with other, at this point unnamed companies on the three larger core
data centers, each expected to cost $250 million or more.
Barney told Dow Jones Newswires that Pacnet was aiming to
raise $500 million through its IPO.
- wong chee tat :) |
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
TTL expired.....
Some days ago, while pinging some systems, I received this interesting error message: ttl expired in transit.
Now, what do you think is causing this error message?
From Microsoft Technet,
The TTL value determines the maximum amount of time an IP packet may live in the network without reaching its destination. It is effectively a bound on the number of routers an IP packet may pass through before being discarded. This message indicates that the TTL expired in transit.
- wong chee tat :)
Now, what do you think is causing this error message?
From Microsoft Technet,
The TTL value determines the maximum amount of time an IP packet may live in the network without reaching its destination. It is effectively a bound on the number of routers an IP packet may pass through before being discarded. This message indicates that the TTL expired in transit.
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, February 19, 2010
More people living in HDB flats than before
More people living in HDB flats than before
Posted: 18 February 2010 1501 hrs
SINGAPORE : The number of people living in HDB flats has increased.
According to HDB's latest Sample Household Survey, the number of Singaporeans and PRs who are flat dwellers, increased 2.7 per cent over 5 years to 2.92 million in 2008.
This figure made up 96 per cent of the total population in HDB flats.The remaining 4 per cent were foreigners, which includes maids and tenants.
The average HDB dweller is also now older at 37 years old, compared to 30 years old about 20 years ago.
Longer life expectancy has also resulted in the proportion of elderly residents aged 65 years and above increasing from 5.4 per cent in 1987 to 9.8 per cent in 2008.
Reflecting a better educated workforce, the proportion of HDB residents with tertiary education has increased to about a third.
Proportionately, more residents were in white-collar jobs from 29.5% in 1998 to 34.5% in 2008.
The average HDB household had an income of $4,238 in 2003.
The housing board said this figure climbed to $5,680 in 2008, reflecting the growing affluence of HDB households.
The survey also found that over 95 per cent of households were satisfied with their flats and neighbourhood.
About 80 per cent of homeowners indicated that they are proud of their flats.
About 85 per cent of homeowners felt that their flats were value for money.
Over the next two months, HDB says it will be releasing more findings on the well-being of the elderly and families, as well as residents' sense of social well-being.
-CNA/ha
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 18 February 2010 1501 hrs
 |
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 HDB flats (file picture) |
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SINGAPORE : The number of people living in HDB flats has increased.
According to HDB's latest Sample Household Survey, the number of Singaporeans and PRs who are flat dwellers, increased 2.7 per cent over 5 years to 2.92 million in 2008.
This figure made up 96 per cent of the total population in HDB flats.The remaining 4 per cent were foreigners, which includes maids and tenants.
The average HDB dweller is also now older at 37 years old, compared to 30 years old about 20 years ago.
Longer life expectancy has also resulted in the proportion of elderly residents aged 65 years and above increasing from 5.4 per cent in 1987 to 9.8 per cent in 2008.
Reflecting a better educated workforce, the proportion of HDB residents with tertiary education has increased to about a third.
Proportionately, more residents were in white-collar jobs from 29.5% in 1998 to 34.5% in 2008.
The average HDB household had an income of $4,238 in 2003.
The housing board said this figure climbed to $5,680 in 2008, reflecting the growing affluence of HDB households.
The survey also found that over 95 per cent of households were satisfied with their flats and neighbourhood.
About 80 per cent of homeowners indicated that they are proud of their flats.
About 85 per cent of homeowners felt that their flats were value for money.
Over the next two months, HDB says it will be releasing more findings on the well-being of the elderly and families, as well as residents' sense of social well-being.
-CNA/ha
- wong chee tat :)
Change to core router by data center provider brings WordPress down
Change to core router by data center provider brings WordPress down
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| More than 10 million blogs affected |
| (2/18/2010) |
|
Popular
blogging platform WordPress
was down for almost two hours on Thursday, following a networking issue
at one of the data centers that host its servers.
The outage,
depriving about 10.2 million blogs of about 5.5 million page views, was
the company’s worst in four years, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg
wrote in a blog post.
 Mullenweg was the founding developer of software that runs much of WordPress “We are still gathering details, but it appears an unscheduled change to a core router by one of our data center providers messed up our network in a way we haven’t experienced before, and broke the site,” he explained. “It also broke all the mechanisms for failover between our locations in San Antonio and Chicago.”
Mullenweg
reassured blog owners that all their data was secure during the
110-minute outage and that WordPress would look for ways to “recover
more gracefully next time and isolate problems like this so they don’t
affect our other locations.”
- wong chee tat :) |
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Asia Pacific data center market growth rate to surpass 16 percent in 2011
| Asia Pacific data center market growth rate to surpass 16 percent in 2011 | ||||||||||||
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| With Japan at the forefront, Frost and Sullivan says demand in the region outpaces supply | ||||||||||||
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Echoing the words of analysts in the US about the American data
center market, a research firm Frost and Sullivan analyst says that demand for data
center space in Asia-Pacific significantly outpaces supply in the
region and expects growth in the provider market to continue at high
rates.
“Data centre hosting services are a huge, growing business - one that has remained largely insulated from the recession,” Frost and Sullivan’s Chengyu Wu said in a statement, highlighting her new study of the region. “As much as two-fifths of a company's total energy consumption is spent on powering data centres, making the cost of maintaining captive data centers highly prohibitive. “Real estate, of course, is the other significant cost. In fact, over 80 percent of the major data centres in Asia-Pacific are running at close to 90 percent capacity and space is at a premium.” The report cover 14 countries in Asia-Pacific, including Japan. In 2009, the data center services market’s size in the region was about $8 billion, growing at a rate of about 12.8 percent year-over-year. Wu expects the market to grow by 14.7 percent in 2010 and by 16.4 percent in 2011, by which point its size will reach $10.68 million. Japan accounted for the largest portion of the region’s total market revenues in 2009, generating $5.7 billion. Other major Asia-Pacific data center “hubs” are Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and, to a lesser degree, China, India and Malaysia. Across the region, most demand is driven by “government initiatives towards e-governance and e-readiness.” Remaining 45 percent of the market is driven by Internet media, telecommunications and IT companies, whose sectors continue growing at high rates. |
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Multi-ethnic study aims to provide information for eye research in Asia
By Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia |
Posted: 16 February 2010 1933 hrs
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SINGAPORE: Asia is home to nearly half of all the world's 40
million blind people. But despite that, knowledge about major eye
diseases is limited.
Now some researchers from the Singapore Eye Research Institute are shedding more light with a series of multi-ethnic studies.
Early detection of eye diseases will soon be made easier with a new study that aims to provide multi-ethnic information for eye research in Asia.
The project is a world first and consists of three studies involving more than 10,000 Chinese, Malay and Indian participants living in Singapore.
Each of the studies spans a two-year period.
It also aims to gather critical information on the causes and impacts of vision-threatening diseases effecting Asians.
Participants were randomly pre-selected from a list of Singaporeans who fit the study criteria.
The Singapore Eye Research Institute said both the Malay and Indian studies threw up some eye-opening findings.
A large number in the Malay group were unaware of their condition.
For example, 90 per cent of glaucoma cases were not previously diagnosed while 30 per cent of diabetic patients with retina damage had never seen an eye doctor.
Professor Tien Yin, director, Singapore Eye Research Institute, said: "40 per cent of the Indian people in Singapore have low vision in at least one eye and the majority of this is caused by cataract as well as under correction of their spectacle refraction. It could be easily preventable or treated."
The Singapore Chinese Eye Study is currently in its final phase. This particular study is unique from the other two because data collected from it will be compared to information from two other Chinese cohorts in Los Angeles and Guangzhou.
This will allow researchers to examine how various lifestyle factors influence eye diseases in Chinese people across the various communities.
Now some researchers from the Singapore Eye Research Institute are shedding more light with a series of multi-ethnic studies.
Early detection of eye diseases will soon be made easier with a new study that aims to provide multi-ethnic information for eye research in Asia.
The project is a world first and consists of three studies involving more than 10,000 Chinese, Malay and Indian participants living in Singapore.
Each of the studies spans a two-year period.
It also aims to gather critical information on the causes and impacts of vision-threatening diseases effecting Asians.
Participants were randomly pre-selected from a list of Singaporeans who fit the study criteria.
The Singapore Eye Research Institute said both the Malay and Indian studies threw up some eye-opening findings.
A large number in the Malay group were unaware of their condition.
For example, 90 per cent of glaucoma cases were not previously diagnosed while 30 per cent of diabetic patients with retina damage had never seen an eye doctor.
Professor Tien Yin, director, Singapore Eye Research Institute, said: "40 per cent of the Indian people in Singapore have low vision in at least one eye and the majority of this is caused by cataract as well as under correction of their spectacle refraction. It could be easily preventable or treated."
The Singapore Chinese Eye Study is currently in its final phase. This particular study is unique from the other two because data collected from it will be compared to information from two other Chinese cohorts in Los Angeles and Guangzhou.
This will allow researchers to examine how various lifestyle factors influence eye diseases in Chinese people across the various communities.
- CNA/vm
- wong chee tat
Sunday, February 14, 2010
More people having reunion dinners at restaurants
More people having reunion dinners at restaurants
By Patwant Singh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 February 2010 2154 hrs
By Patwant Singh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 February 2010 2154 hrs
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SINGAPORE : It is the eve of the Lunar New Year and it is traditionally the day for reunion dinners at home.
But this year, with the economy picking up, more people in Singapore are going to restaurants for their reunion dinner.
Outlets MediaCorp spoke to said business is up by some 20 per cent and customers are ordering expensive dishes.
Some establishments have also created special dishes.
Beyond food, extras like traditional opera performances during the "lo-hei" are also being offered.
One restaurant manager said orders started coming in a month earlier, and the restaurant had to increase manpower to man the phone lines.
Over at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), the timing of dialysis sessions was changed so that patients can be home in time for the all-important meal.
The start times were shifted from 7am to 2am so that the last patient can finish the session by late evening.
NKF staff were also not forgotten, with a special dinner arranged for its 40 nurses from China.
The nurses chipped in with preparations, making their own dumplings - a signature dish during reunion dinners.
And with Chinatown being the centre of activities this Lunar New Year, the public is advised not to drive to the area.
That is because of the road closures there.
The best option is to take public transport.
- CNA/ms
- wong chee tat :)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Party drug banned abroad but not in S'pore
Party drug banned abroad but not in S'pore
By Shaffiq Alkhatib, TODAY | Posted: 12 February 2010 0955 hrs
By Shaffiq Alkhatib, TODAY | Posted: 12 February 2010 0955 hrs
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SINGAPORE : It is available online as "plant food", is not a controlled substance in Singapore, and local clubbers are now abusing it to get a "legal" high.
Mephedrone is so widely abused overseas as a party drug that it has been banned in several countries, including Germany, Sweden and Norway.
Last month, a British teenager died after consuming it at a house party. The stimulant was also linked to the death of an 18-year-old girl in Stockholm in December 2008.
While the number of mephedrone abusers in Singapore is unknown, Mixmag - a United Kingdom-based dance music magazine - said recently that through a survey, it found out that about 42 per cent of clubbers in Britain have dabbled with the substance.
Responding to MediaCorp's queries, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said that mephedrone is not a controlled substance in Singapore and is not listed under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
Alex (not his real name) told MediaCorp he takes mephedrone with his friends almost every weekend. They purchase their supplies off the Internet for about S$30 a gram.
He said that the websites usually operate "out of Britain" and that their orders often arrive "within a week's time". "The substance is openly sold online as 'plant food' so that (sellers) can avoid prosecution," said Alex.
Mephedrone sellers state on the packaging that the chemical is "not for human consumption" although it has no known use as a fertiliser for plants.
Referring to the substance as "meow meow", Alex said he snorts the white powdery substance to give him a high. And unlike alcohol, he claimed, it does not give him a bad hangover the next day.
Because mephedrone is relatively new on the market, medical professionals here know little about it or its long-term effects.
But Dr Chin Khong Ling from Healthway Medical Group said, anecdotally, that mephedrone has been known to constrict blood vessels, and that users may suffer from hallucinations and paranoia.
The pharmacology of the substance and its toxicity effects are still not well understood and those who snort the substance can even damage their nasal passages, leading to nosebleeds.
"It can thin out the skin, the blood vessels in the nasal passage and, sometimes, it can even erode the cartilage in your septum, leading to a hole between the two nostrils," said Dr Chin.
Ms Valerie Wong, a counsellor at the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association said abusers may also experience withdrawal symptoms. To experience the "first high" again, many will consume even more of it to experience the same euphoria.
Consuming mephedrone may even open the doors to harder drugs like heroin, said Ms Wong as many hardcore addicts kickstarted their habits with what is usually perceived as "less dangerous" substances such as inhalants.
A substance does not have to be illegal to be dangerous, and if parents do not carefully monitor their children's behaviour, mephedrone "could turn out to be the new inhalant", she said.
- TODAY/il
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thoughts
Some thoughts:
`All happenings will become the past.`
`Every individual`s life will extinguish.`
`All existence, in a flash, will no longer exist.`
- www.tbsn.org
- wong chee tat :)
`All happenings will become the past.`
`Every individual`s life will extinguish.`
`All existence, in a flash, will no longer exist.`
- www.tbsn.org
- wong chee tat :)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Xcopy
One of my friends had a problem about his aging portable usb Terabyte (1Tb = 1000Gb) hard drive. According to him, the portable usb sata hard drive was not detected in Windows XP and Windows Vista. Luckily, it was able to access under DOS.
So, one of the ways to do is to use xcopy to retrieve some important documents and transfer to another location and suggest him to buy a new hard drive too.
Let us look at xcopy syntax:
Xcopy (From Microsoft Technet)
Copies directories, their subdirectories, and files (except hidden and system files).With this command, you can copy all the files in a directory, including the files in the subdirectories of that directory.
Syntax
xcopy source [destination] [/a|/m] [/d:date] [/p] [/s [/e]] [/v] [/w]Parameters
source
Specifies the location and names of the files you want to copy. Source must include either a drive or a path.
destination
Specifies the destination of the files you want to copy. Destination can include a drive letter and colon, a directory name, a filename, or a combination.
Switches
/a
Copies only source files that have their archive file attributes set. This switch does not modify the archive file attribute of the source file. For information about how to set the archive file attribute, see the attrib command.
/m
Copies source files that have their archive file attributes set. Unlike the /a switch, the /m switch turns off archive file attributes in the files specified in source. For information about how to set the archive file attribute, see the attrib command.
/d: date
Copies only source files modified on or after the specified date. Note that the format of date depends on the country setting you are using.
/p
Prompts you to confirm whether you want to create each destination file.
/s
Copies directories and subdirectories, unless they are empty. If you omit this switch, xcopy works within a single directory.
/e
Copies any subdirectories, even if they are empty. You must use the /s switch with this switch.
/v
Verifies each file as it is written to the destination file to make sure that the destination files are identical to the source files.
/w
Displays the following message and waits for your response before starting to copy files:
Press any key to begin copying file(s)Notes
Default value for destination
If you omit destination, the xcopy command copies the files to the current directory.
Specifying whether destination is a file or directory
If destination does not contain an existing directory and does not end with a backslash (\), xcopy prompts you with a message in the following format:
Does destination specify a file name or directory name on the target (F = file, D = directory)?Press F if you want the file(s) to be copied to a file. Press D if you want the file(s) to be copied to a directory.
Xcopy does not copy hidden and system files
In older versions of MS-DOS, xcopy copies hidden and system files. This is not the case in MS-DOS 6. To remove the hidden or system attribute from a file, use the attrib command.
Xcopy sets archive attribute for destination files
Xcopy creates files with the archive attribute set, whether or not this attribute was set in the source file. For more information about file attributes, see the attrib command.
Xcopy vs. diskcopy
If you have a disk that contains files in subdirectories and you want to copy it to a disk that has a different format, you should use the xcopy command instead of diskcopy. Since the diskcopy command copies disks track by track, it requires that your source and destination disks have the same format. Xcopy has no such requirement. In general, use xcopy unless you need a complete disk image copy. However, xcopy will not copy hidden or system files such as IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. Therefore, use diskcopy to make copies of system disks.
Xcopy exit codes
The following list shows each exit code and a brief description of its meaning:
| 0 | Files were copied without error. |
| 1 | No files were found to copy. |
| 2 | The user pressed CTRL+C to terminate xcopy. |
| 4 | Initialization error occurred. There is not enough memory or disk space, or you entered an invalid drive name or invalid syntax on the command line. |
| 5 | Disk write error occurred. |
The following example copies all the files and subdirectories (including any empty subdirectories) from the disk in drive A to the disk in drive B:
xcopy a: b: /s /eThe following example uses the /d: and /v switches:
xcopy a: b: /d:01/18/93 /s /vIn this example, only files on the disk in drive A that were written on or after 01/18/93 are copied to the disk in drive B. Once the files are written to the disk in drive B, the xcopy command compares the files on the two disks to make sure they are the same.
You can create a batch program to perform xcopy operations and use the batch if command to process the exit code in case an error occurs. For example, the following batch program uses replaceable parameters for the xcopy source and destination parameters:
\@echo off rem COPYIT.BAT transfers all source rem files in all directories on the source rem drive (\%1) to the destination drive (\%2) xcopy \%1 \%2 /s /e if errorlevel 4 goto lowmemory if errorlevel 2 goto abort if errorlevel 0 goto exit\:lowmemory echo Insufficient memory to copy files or echo invalid drive or command-line syntax. goto exit\:abort echo You pressed CTRL+C to end the copy operation. goto exit\:exitTo use this batch program to copy all files in the C:\PRGMCODE directory and its subdirectories to drive B, type the following command:
copyit c:\prgmcode b:The command interpreter substitutes C:\PRGMCODE for %1 and B: for %2, then uses xcopy with the /e and /s switches. If xcopy encounters an error, the batch program reads the exit code and goes to the label indicated in the appropriate if errorlevel statement. MS-DOS displays the appropriate message and exits from the batch program.
- wong chee tat :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Hitachi 500 Gb hard drive
While checking on the log files for the hitachi 500Gb hard drive, I saw 2 interesting attributes: Reallocated sector count and Current pending sector count.
Reallocated sector count
From wikipedia: When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks this sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and "reallocated" sectors are called remaps. This is why, on modern hard disks, "bad blocks" cannot be found while testing the surface – all bad blocks are hidden in reallocated sectors. However, as the number of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to decrease. The raw value normally represents a count of the number of bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate.
Current pending sector
From wikipedia: Number of "unstable" sectors (waiting to be remapped, because of read errors). If an unstable sector is subsequently written or read successfully, this value is decreased and the sector is not remapped. Read errors on a sector will not remap the sector (since it might be readable later); instead, the drive firmware remembers that the sector needs to be remapped, and remaps it the next time it's written.
Time to backup data and to get a new hard drive soon.
- wong chee tat :)
Reallocated sector count
From wikipedia: When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks this sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and "reallocated" sectors are called remaps. This is why, on modern hard disks, "bad blocks" cannot be found while testing the surface – all bad blocks are hidden in reallocated sectors. However, as the number of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to decrease. The raw value normally represents a count of the number of bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate.
Current pending sector
From wikipedia: Number of "unstable" sectors (waiting to be remapped, because of read errors). If an unstable sector is subsequently written or read successfully, this value is decreased and the sector is not remapped. Read errors on a sector will not remap the sector (since it might be readable later); instead, the drive firmware remembers that the sector needs to be remapped, and remaps it the next time it's written.
Time to backup data and to get a new hard drive soon.
- wong chee tat :)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Dead Laptop Battery
Opened the laptop and saw this message popped up: Irreparable damage to the battery. Replace battery.
and
Went to the service center and the guys at the service center gave me a new battery since the laptop is still under warranty.
- wong chee tat :)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
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