Malaysia Blogger

A while back I created a FaceBook group http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_157538824296773 called AdSense Secrets. Quickly got bored of FaceBook (didn’t make me any money) and never promoted the FaceBook group. It managed to generate about 800 members and at times had AdSense click exchange discussions, basically people trying to make easy money by getting others to click their AdSense ads (AKA fraudulent AdSense clicks), usually using free BlogSpot blogs.

I’ve never clicked my own AdSense ads on purpose (in years of using AdSense I’ve accidentally clicked ads, but not often) or asked others to click my AdSense ads because I know Google AdSense exists to make money for Google and the people behind the Google AdSense program are working hard to stop publishers defrauding their advertisers out of their hard earned money.

Basically I know given time IF I clicked my own ads or arranged for others to click them I’d eventually get caught and my AdSense account would be banned and I’d no longer make thousands of dollars a year via AdSense.

Is it Safe to Join AdSense Click Exchange Groups to Cheat Google AdSense?

If you search in Google for “AdSense Click Exchange” or “AdSense Click Fraud” you will find various web pages offering to work with AdSense publishers to defraud the Google AdSense program. The current first listing for the search “AdSense Click Exchange” is a FaceBook page and the person who created the page was trying to get their AdSense ads on a BlogSpot blog clicked. When I checked the blog out (July 2010) the BlogSpot blog had been banned by Blogspot (which is owned by Google, that’s the same owner as AdSense you know  ).

Over the last couple of years I’ve occasionally taken a look at sites that have asked for fraudulent AdSense clicks in exchange for clicking others AdSense ads and have found there is a strong tendency for AdSense either to be no longer shown on the sites (suggesting the account was banned and the owner removed the ad code) or an error block shown where the AdSense ad should be (that happens when an AdSense publisher account is banned or a site is blocked from the AdSense program).

I haven’t performed statistical analysis on sites listed on AdSense click exchange groups, but I’d estimate over half of sites that are listed as looking to exchange AdSense clicks fraudulently are banned from the AdSense program within 6 months. Some sites are still showing AdSense ads a year on, so Google AdSense might not be doing as much as they could to catch the AdSense click fraudsters, but for me a 50% chance my Google AdSense account could be banned within 6 months is way too much of a risk for a program that’s made me over $75,000 since I joined the program in 2004.

Ways to Cheat the Google AdSense Program

I do not advise trying any of these AdSense click fraud techniques, I would expect your AdSense account to be banned eventually.

Click Your Own AdSense Ads

Well, if you’ve clicked your own AdSense ads you are an idiot, give up any hope of ever making money online, you are too stupid and shouldn’t even be allowed Internet access!

When you login to your AdSense publisher account Google AdSense will know your IP address and will know you are clicking your own AdSense ads, also they will consider the impressions and clicks as invalid and you won’t get paid anyway.

Click Your Own AdSense Ads via Proxy Servers

You’ve done some research that you can hide your IP address etc… by using a proxy server. Technically speaking this could work, however I’m not a computer programmer, but even I know it’s not going to be rocket science to the Google AdSense engineers (those geeky computer programmers who live programming code) to compile proxy server lists and check for AdSense clicks from them and checkout AdSense publishers who’s ads get a fair number of AdSense clicks from proxy servers.

Lets imagine you have a domain with AdSense and every day you login to your site through 10 random proxy servers, browse a dozen pages and click one AdSense ad. In a year you’ll generate 3,650 fraudulent clicks related to about 40,000 impressions and your clicks from proxy servers won’t generate a single sale for the AdWords advertisers.

This isn’t even large scale AdSense click fraud, at a relatively high $0.25 an AdSense click it’s only $900 a year, but you can see within a year you’ve left a serious footprint of your fraudulent AdSense click activity!

Ask Friends and Family to Click Your AdSense Ads

This is straight forward, you have a lot of friends/family and you persuade them to click your ads on a regular basis (though not family members using the same Internet connection you use!).

If done intelligently I could see this working, picture a family living in 5 properties, you persuade one member of each family to click one ad every day, you get around 1800 fraudulent AdSense clicks from real people in different locations (different IPs: would work better if all 5 are on ISPs that use dynamic IPs and none of them have their own AdSense accounts: see later under “AdSense Click Exchange Networks”.).

The problem with this (any AdSense click fraud) is scale, if I popped down to my local library once a day and clicked one ad, this would result in 365 AdSense clicks a year, would this throw up a red flag? Probably not, but 365 clicks a year isn’t exactly going to be worth the effort of visiting the library every day (at $0.25 a click it’s under $100 a year). Basically if it’s financially worthwhile putting the time into AdSense click fraud you are inevitably going to leave a footprint the very smart Google AdSense engineers are going to be able to spot and then ban you for.

AdSense Clickbot

Software that clicks AdSense ads and generates impressions so it looks like you have a lot of visitors and some click ads. Do you trust a computer programmer to not leave a footprint from an AdSense clickbot program that fraudulently clicks ads that Google AdSense can’t find?

I wouldn’t, there could be hundreds of other AdSense publishers using the same clickbot and one small mistake by the computer programmer who wrote the AdSense clickbot and you are all caught and banned!

Paid AdSense Click Cheats

Pay a group of people to visit your website and fraudulently click your AdSense ads. This is hiring people from economies where people will work for a dollar a day (India, Africa, Pakistan etc…) and have them generate X number of impressions and Y number of fraudulent clicks per month.

The problem with this is you are trusting fraudsters to generate impressions and clicks without leaving a footprint the Google AdSense engineers can spot. As has been discussed above this isn’t that easy and running AdSense fraud as a business means large scale which inevitably leaves an even larger footprint which makes it even easier for Google AdSense to spot.

AdSense Click Exchange Networks

You find others looking to defraud the Google AdSense program and you click their AdSense ads and they click yours.

Do you trust total strangers to be intelligent when they click your ads?

Think about it, if they are fraudulently clicking your ads they are probably fraudulently clicking others AdSense ads as well, it’s not going to be difficult for Google AdSense to track AdSense publishers (like you) online AdSense click activity.

An AdSense publisher is on a static IP address or have a dynamic IP but regularly log in to their AdSense account. They have logged into their AdSense account with that IP which links any AdSense click activity to that person. They visit your website and click a few ads, go to another AdSense publishers website and click a few ads…

You are also on a static IP address or are on a dynamic IP, but regularly log into your AdSense account which links you to your AdSense account. You click the AdSense ads of an AdSense publisher that’s clicked your ads, then go to another AdSense publishers website and click their AdSense ads.

Hmm, back at AdSense HQ a pattern has emerged, we have three or more AdSense publishers clicking each others AdSense ads, but never buy a product or service. Can you see just how easy it is to be caught clicking others AdSense ads?

How to Make Money with AdSense Ads

I’m afraid there’s no get rich quick schemes with the AdSense program. You build a website with content that generates traffic and some of that traffic clicks your AdSense ads, that’s it.

It’s the ONLY safe and LONG TERM way to make money from the Google AdSense program.

There is a cafe that sits right on the borderline between Belgium and Netherlands

There are 22 Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands and 6 Dutch exclaves located within the largest Belgian exclave. Such land distribution results in complexity of borders between the two countries.

It is not unusual that one part of the building is located in Belgium and the other in Netherlands. This cafe, for example, is located right on the borderline between Belgium and Netherlands. This border runs across the town of Baarle-Nassau.



There must be quite a few entrepreneurs in this town using its location and difference in laws to their own benefit.

source: today i learned

Math Nerds do it better!

The World’s First All-glass Undersea Restaurant Opens

15 th April marks the day that the first ever all-glass undersea restaurant in the world opens its doors for business at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. It will sit five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views.



“We have used aquarium technology to put diners face-to-face with the stunning underwater environment of the Maldives”, says Carsten Schieck, General Manager of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. “Our guests always comment on being blown aw ay by the colour, clarity, and beauty of the underwater world in the Maldives, so it seemed the perfect idea to build a restaurant where diners can experience fine cuisine and take time to enjoy the views - without ever getting their feet wet.”






Created by MJ Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New Zealand, Ithaa’s distinctive feature is the use of curved transparent acrylic walls and roof, similar to those used in aquarium attractions. “The fact that the entire restaurant except for the floor is made of clear ac rylic makes this unique in the world,” continues Schieck, “We are currently planting a coral garden on the reef to add to the spectacular views of the rays, sharks and many colorful fish that live around the area.

Shaven guinea pig looks like a baby hippo

 

There always creativity in nature:

A shaven guinea pig is apparently a copy of a baby hippo.

when you see them first time, you won’t think of them two separately.

 

Guinea pig

baby hippo

The Clever "Stupid" boy

A young boy enters a barber shop and the barber whispers to his customer ,“This is the dumbest kid in the world. Watch while I prove it to you.” The barber puts a dollar bill in one hand and two quarters in the other, then calls the boy over and asks, “Which do you want, son?” The boy takes the quarters and leaves. “What did I tell you?” said the barber. “That kid never learns!” Later, when the customer leaves, he sees the same young boy coming out of the ice cream store. “Hey, son! May I ask you a question? Why did you take the quarters instead of the dollar bill?” The boy licked his cone and replied, “Because the day I take the dollar, the game is over!”

DOING WELL BY DOING GOOD

Excerpted from a speech delivered by Mr. Brody to the graduating class of John Hopkins University on May 26, 2005.
There is a man who I'd like to tell you about. His name is Sandy Greenberg. In his youth, Sandy was a very good student, but he came from a poor family. And so he went to Columbia University on a scholarship and there he met his roommate who also was receiving financial aid.

Now while he was a sophomore at Columbia University, Sandy contracted an eye disease that eventually proved to be glaucoma. But the trouble was, it wasn't detected early enough, and as a result he became legally blind. I ask you all to imagine for a moment having been sighted all your life, and then all of a sudden being faced, in a very competitive school, with losing so much sight you could no longer read. This is what happened to Sandy Greenberg.

But something else happened to Sandy that may surprise you. Sandy said that when he lost his sight, his roommate would read his textbooks to him, every night.

So I'm going to put you in that position, in a competitive school like Columbia, or Johns Hopkins. If your roommate had a serious disability, would you take the time to read textbooks to him every night, knowing the more you spend time reading textbooks to your roommate, perhaps the less well you might do with your other activities? That's not as easy a question as it first appears.

But luckily for Sandy, his roommate did. And as a result, Sandy went on to graduate with honors. He got a Fulbright Scholarship, and he went off to study at Oxford. He was still quite poor, but he said he had managed to save about five hundred dollars as he went along.

His roommate, meanwhile, also went on to graduate school. One day, Sandy got a call from him at Oxford. And his former roommate said, "Sandy I'm really unhappy. I really don't like being in graduate school, and I don't want to do this."

So Sandy asked, "Well what do you want to do?"

And his roommate told him, "Sandy, I really love to sing. I have a high school friend who plays the guitar. And we would really like to try our hand in the music business. But we need to make a promo record, and in order to do that I need $500."

So Sandy Greenberg told me he took all his life savings and sent it to his roommate. He told me, "You know, what else could I do? He made my life; I needed to help make his life."

So, I hope you'll remember the power of doing well by doing good. Each of you, in your own lives, will be faced with challenges, with roadblocks, with problems that you didn't anticipate or expect. How you are able to deal with adversity will be influenced, to no small extent, by how you deal with others along the way. What you get will depend a lot on what you give. And that's the end of the story of doing well, by doing good.

Ah! I almost forgot. You probably are wanting to know who Sandy's roommate was. I think you've heard of him. Sandy's roommate was a fellow by the name of Art Garfunkel, and he teamed up with another musician by the name of Paul Simon. That $500 helped them cut a record that eventually became "The Sounds of Silence." Recently, we had the pleasure of going to Sandy's daughter's wedding, and it was Art Garfunkel who sang as Sandy walked his daughter down the aisle.

When you get to be my age (which, for some of you, is really old, (though it doesn't seem so old to me anymore), you will find yourself beginning to ask, did my life make a difference?

That's the day of personal reckoning. And I think the only way to face it is to consider, every day of your life: How can I do something for somebody else? How can I give back to others? It may be teaching, it may be becoming a doctor, you may be successful in business - no matter what your career path, there will always be the opportunity to give back. The chance will present itself to be giving of your time, giving of your money, but mostly, to be giving of yourselves, of your own heart and soul.

My hope today, as you commence to new beginnings, is you will always keep your eyes open for those opportunities to give and embrace them as your best sure way of doing well.

We can do something for Global warming

Global warming is compelling. Do you concern about global warming? Most of people say global warming is the future’s problem?

Compelling new evidence demonstrates that global warming is already under way with consequences that must be faced today as well as tomorrow.

Let’s do something to reduce climate change by making small, simple everyday changes, you can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and help to stop global warming. Find out how you can do for climate change www.biggreenswitch.co.uk

5 things we can all do

• Join www.stopglobalwarming.org together our voices will be heard
• Spread the word, share the learning. Send this link to family, friends and colleagues
• Change begins at home (http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_takeaction.asp)
• Put the heat on your elected officials
• The power of the pocketbook.

Let’s stop global warming now............

Just for fun

CUP & COOKIES
Smart cup in which you can put 2-3 of your favourite cookies. You don’t need extra plates. It’s made for right handed and left handed.

BANANA GUARD - Protect Your Banana!
Are you fed up with bringing bananas to work or school only to find them bruised and squashed? Banana Guard allows you to safely transport and storage individual bananas letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere.

LOCK-CUP
Lock Cup - Anti-Theft Coffee Cup. Are you tired of others stealing your coffee cup? Well now there’s a solution. The Lock - Cup has a hole which prevents most people from using it. Only the owner of the cup can use his/hers shaped key to close the hole.

PENGUIN TEA TIMER
Making tea, though easy to do, is also time consuming. Once you pour the hot water into the cup, you must patiently hover over it, waiting for the tea to steep. Well, the Penguin Tea Timer happily does the waiting for you.
Place your tea cup under the beak and set it to the desired time. As you turn the timer dial, the beak lowers the tea into the hot water. When time is up, a bell sounds and the penguin automatically lifts his beak, removing the tea bag from the water.

TRANSPARENT TOASTER
You love toast, but you always burn it? Than, this invention us for you.
This transparent toaster allows you to see the bread while it is toasting so you just have to take it out when the colour is right. This idea is based on a transparent heating glass technology.

BUTTER CUTTER
One Click Butter Cutter controls your portion as an important part of staying healthy. This ingenious butter cutter delivers one standard pat with each click of the handle.

GIANT REMOTE
Never lose your remote again!
With giant buttons, this extra-large remote is easy to use and impossible to lose. It’s a 6-in-1 remote so you can use it to control your TV, VCR, DVD player, satellite, cable and auxiliary A/V device. It even features glow-in-the-dark buttons, so you can easily find the remote in the dark.

DAYCLOCK
What day is today? You don’t know? Then you need a DayClock. It’s uniquely designed to keep track of weekly events like your golf day, card night, movie night, and so much more. It’s ideal for vacations and cruises when it’s easy to lose track of the day.

CRIME SCENE TOWEL
Chalk outline crime scene beach towel - be the coolest person on the beach!

LASER SCISSORS
Laser ScissorsCutting a straight line has never been easier. Just aim the pin-point laser and follow the line. The scissor blades are stainless steel and cut very clean with a micro serrated edge.

TOILET SEAT LIFTER
‘Who left the Toilet Seat up?’ The PeaceMaker will end the battle of the toilet seat. Merely step on the pedal to activate the lifting mechanism. When finished, remove your foot from the pedal and the seat gently comes to a rest where it started.

ILUMINATING CAR SLIPPERS
Do you get up at night to drink water, go to the toilet…Do you wish you could see in the dark? Remarkably bright LED lights are triggered by your footsteps and light up the floor 30 feet in front of you; ultra-soft plush style are extra comfortable and cozy warm.

“THE THING” - INFANT PILLOW
The Zaky is an ergonomic infant pillow designed by a mom to mimic the size, weight, touch, and feel of her hand and forearm to help her baby with comfort, support, protection, and development. The Zaky can help calm your baby and help your baby sleep better through the night.

TRAVELER’S PHRASE BOOK T-SHIRT
If you are traveling a lot and don’t always know the language of the country you are visiting, then this T-shirt is for you. It has a phrase book printed on it so just point a finger at the pictogram you need and then point it twice at the question mark, which means, “Where is it?” and in no time you have found what you were looking for… or not.

MODERN LADDER
Realy cool modern ladder.

LATEST DESIGN WAITER/WAITRESS TRAYS
Anatomic tray, for waiters. No more dropping trays. We just don’t know is it comfortable.

WHEEL-MOVING BENCH
Whether you want to sit on the sun or in the shade, near the river or under the tree… now you have your movable bench, to sit wherever you like.

7 World Trade Center

The new 7 World Trade Center (view from southeast)

7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name 7 World Trade Center has referred to two buildings: the original structure, developed in 1984, and the current structure. The original building was destroyed on September 11, 2001 and replaced with the new 7 World Trade Center, which opened in 2006. Both buildings were developed by Larry Silverstein who holds a ground lease for the site from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The original 7 World Trade Center was 47 stories tall, clad in red exterior masonry, and occupied a trapezoid-shaped footprint. An elevated walkway connected the building to the World Trade Center plaza. The building was situated above a Con Edison power substation which imposed unique structural design constraints. When the building opened in 1987, Silverstein had difficulties attracting tenants. In 1988, the Salomon Brothers signed a long-term lease, and became the main tenants of the building. On September 11, 2001, the building was heavily damaged by debris when the adjacent twin towers collapsed. Its structural integrity was further compromised by fires which burned throughout the afternoon. The original 7 World Trade Center collapsed at 5:20 p.m. on September 11 due to the combined effect of structural and fire damage.

The new 7 World Trade Center construction began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. It is 52 stories tall and situated above a power substation. Built on a smaller footprint than the original to allow Greenwich Street to be restored from TriBeCa through the World Trade Center site and south to Battery Park, the new building is bounded by Greenwich, Vesey, Washington, and Barclay streets. A small park across Greenwich street occupies space that was part of the original building's footprint. The current 7 World Trade Center's design placed emphasis on safety, with a reinforced concrete core, wider stairways, and thicker fireproofing of steel columns, and incorporates numerous environmentally friendly features.

Information
Location	250 Greenwich Street New York City, New York, United States
Status	Complete
Constructed	2002–2006
Use	Office
Height
Roof	750 ft (228 m)
Technical details
Floor count	52
Floor area	1.7 million sq ft 158,000 m²
Companies
Architect	David Childs (S.O.M.)
Developer	Silverstein Properties

The World’s First All-glass Undersea Restaurant

The World’s First All-glass Undersea Restaurant Opens

15 th April marks the day that the first ever all-glass undersea restaurant in the world opens its doors for business at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. It will sit five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic offering diners 270-degrees of panoramic underwater views.

“We have used aquarium technology to put diners face-to-face with the stunning underwater environment of the Maldives”, says Carsten Schieck, General Manager of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. “Our guests always comment on being blown aw ay by the colour, clarity, and beauty of the underwater world in the Maldives, so it seemed the perfect idea to build a restaurant where diners can experience fine cuisine and take time to enjoy the views - without ever getting their feet wet.”

Created by MJ Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New Zealand, Ithaa’s distinctive feature is the use of curved transparent acrylic walls and roof, similar to those used in aquarium attractions. “The fact that the entire restaurant except for the floor is made of clear ac rylic makes this unique in the world,” continues Schieck, “We are currently planting a coral garden on the reef to add to the spectacular views of the rays, sharks and many colorful fish that live around the area.

PARASITES ARE IN OUR CLOTHING !

Wash Bras and other clothing before use!
Most people do but this is just a warning for those that don't.....
Read the account first, then brace yourselves before looking at the
pics.............
WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT PARASITES ARE IN OUR CLOTHING
WHEN WE BUY THEM.

Oh my god.
This is disgusting. Forward to all females!!!!
Wash your bra's before you wear them!!! Please make it a habit from this point forward to wash your just-purchased Undergarments before wearing them. This is sensitive.
After anthropologist Susan McKinley came back home from an expedition in
South America , she noticed a very strange rash on her left breast.
Nobody knew what it was and she quickly dismissed it believing that the
Holes would leave in time.

Upon her return she decided to see a doctor after she started developing
Intense pains. The doctor, not knowing the exact severity of the disease, gave her
Antibiotics and special creams. As time lapsed the pain did not subside and her left breast became more inflamed and started to bleed.

She decided to bandage her sores, however as Susan's pain grew more
intense She decided to seek help from a more certified doctor.
Dr. Lynch could not diagnose the infection and told Susan to seek the
aid of one of his colleagues who specializes in dermatology.

Unfortunately, the doctor was on vacation.. She waited for two weeks and
finally was able to reach the dermatologist. Sadly, a life changing event was about to unfold during her appointment.

To Miss McKinley's surprise, after she removed the bandages, they found
Larvae growing and squirming within the pores and sores of her breast.
Sometimes these wicked creatures would all together simultaneously move
around into different crevices. What she didn't know was that the holes were in fact, deeper than she had originally thought, for these larvae were feeding off the fat,
tissue, and even milk canals of her breast.


Please share with as many women and men that you know. Our undergarments
are made in different countries all over the world. They sit in boxes and go through many hands and exchanges before we purchase them for ourselves.

PLEASE WASH ALL NEWLY PURCHASED BRAS AND UNDERWEAR BEFORE WEARING THEM. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT PARASITES ARE IN OUR CLOTHING WHEN WE BUY THEM.

miracle

He survived against all the odds; now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again. When his body was cut in two by a lorry in 1995, it was little short of a medical miracle that he lived. It took a team of more than 20 doctors to save his life. Skin was grafted from his head to seal his torso ?but the legless Mr Peng was left only 78cm (2ft 6in) tall. Bedridden for years, doctors in China had little hope that he would ever be able to live anything like a normal life agan. But recently, he began exercising his arms, building up the strength to carry out everyday chores such as washing his face and brushing his teeth. Doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing found out about Mr Peng's plight late last year and devised a plan to get him up walking again. They came up with an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body with two bionic legs attached to it. He has been taking his first steps around the centre with the aid of his specially adapted legs and a resized walking frame. Mr Peng, who has to learn how to walk again, is said to be delighted with the device. What a Selfconfidence !!!! Great

Odorless durian raises a stink

Odorless durians at a research center in eastern Thailand, near Cambodia.

TUNG PHAEN, Thailand: You can take the sugar out of soft drinks and the fat from junk food. But eliminate the pungent odor from the world's smelliest fruit and brace for a major international controversy.

After three decades of research, a Thai government scientist working at an orchard here near the Cambodian border says he has managed to take the stink out of durian.

The spiky Southeast Asian fruit, variously described by its detractors as smelling like garbage, moldy cheese or rotting fish, is banned from many hotels, airlines and the Singapore subway. But durian lovers, and there are many in Asia, are convinced that, like fine French cheeses, the worse the smell, the better the taste.

Songpol Somsri, one of the world's leading experts on the fruit, crossed more than 90 varieties, many of them found only in the wild, and came up with what he calls Chantaburi No. 1, after his home province and the location of the research center.

The specially bred durian smells as inoffensive as a banana, Songpol says. It will please Thai consumers, he believes, and might also help broaden the acceptability of the durian, unlocking the door to American and European customers who, like an increasing number of Thais, would reject a fruit that smells like last season's unwashed gym socks.

"Most Thais don't like too strong a smell, except some old people," Songpol said in an interview at his office cluttered with reports on durian DNA structure (he has not yet pinpointed the malodorous gene).

Durian lovers are horrified by the prospect of a no-smell durian. They complain that the fruit, which is green or sometimes yellowish and shaped like a rugby ball, is being homogenized just like the insipid tomatoes bred to look pretty behind cellophane on supermarket shelves.

"Oh, no, this is the beginning of the end," said Bob Halliday, a Bangkok-based food writer, when told about the odorless durian.

The fruit has not yet been officially unveiled by Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture but will obtain final approval in the coming weeks, officials say.

"Making a non-smelly durian is like a thornless rose," Halliday said. "It's really cutting out the soul."

The no-smell durian is even more mystifying to those who live in Malaysia, Singapore or Indonesia, where durians are prized for their odor and priced accordingly.

"The smell must come out from the durian," said Chang Peik Seng, owner of the Bao Sheng durian farm on the Malaysian island of Penang, as he emphasized the "must."

"You cannot hide the smell."

It took several minutes to explain the concept to Chang, who ultimately concluded that an odorless durian would flop in his country. "If the durian doesn't have a strong smell the customer only pays one-third the price," he said.

(Songpol says he has developed a separate durian that might please Malaysians and Indonesians: Chantaburi No. 3 is pungent, but the fruit only begins to smell three days after being picked, allowing for odorless transport.)

There is probably no other fruit that elicits such passion - and revulsion.

The litany of legends and myths surrounding what Malaysians call the "king of fruits" is long and colorful. Durians are said to be an aphrodisiac: When the durians fall, the sarongs fly up, goes a Malay saying.

But woe to those who overindulge. Rarely does durian season - which in central Thailand begins in April and continues till June - pass without newspapers somewhere in Southeast Asia reporting a durian death.

The fruit, which is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fat and sulfurous compounds (thus the smell), is said here to be "heaty," and can therefore be deadly for those with high blood pressure, according to Wilailak Srisura, a nutritionist at Thailand's Department of Health.

Tradition also dictates that mixing alcohol with durian should be avoided at all costs.

"Durian makes you hot and alcohol makes you hot, so it's double heat," said Somchai Tadchang, the owner of a durian orchard on Kret, an island on the Chao Phraya river north of Bangkok, where special Gan Yao (long stem) durians sell for upwards of $40 a fruit, the equivalent of several days' wages for a laborer here.

Songpol says he has not found a scientific reason why durian and alcohol are incompatible, but would not dare consume both at the same time.

He claims to have recently cut back on his personal durian consumption for health reasons ("Fat!" his secretary exclaims), but his work requires him to taste 1,000 durians each season at the research orchard here.

Born and reared in a durian orchard, Songpol started studying the fruit in 1977 as a graduate student in horticulture. Worried that some durian varieties were disappearing as cultivation was becoming increasingly commercialized, Songpol collected dozens of varieties from around Thailand and planted them at the Chantaburi Horticultural Research Center, which now serves as sort of a Thai durian seed bank.

The center is a horticultural Eden with flower beds and streams rimming the rows of experimental durian trees that are shadowed by nearby low-lying, jungle-covered mountains. Songpol experimented with hundreds of different combinations before discovering Chantaburi No. 1, a cross between the Montong and Chanee varieties, the most common found in Thailand today.

It's difficult to believe that any durian would be completely without odor, especially after being cracked open. This year's harvest is not yet ripe, but those who have smelled and tasted last year's say the fruit had a very faint odor.

Saowanee Srisuma, the caretaker of the durian orchard here, says it is the least-smelling durian she has encountered in her 10 years of work on the farm. Suchart Vichitrananda, the director of Horticulture Research Institute where Songpol works, says Chantaburi No. 1 does not smell but he hesitates when describing the taste. "I can't say it's better than the original durian, but it'll do."

Songpol's plan is to replace the Chanee, which farmers have a difficult time selling because of its stronger smell, and plant one million seedlings of the no-smell durian over the next five years, covering about 6,400 hectares, or 15,810 acres, an area slightly larger than Manhattan. Exporters are enthusiastic.

"It's a very good idea," said Kiattisak Tangchareonsutthichai, owner of Thai Hong, a company that exports about 2.5 million kilograms, or 2,755 tons, of durian a year to China. "It's an opportunity for us to export more to new markets that don't like the strong smell."

But the fear of many durian lovers is that the odorless variety is just another step toward the erosion of durian culture.

Durians are a social fruit, traditionally sold on the roadside and eaten by groups of friends sitting on cheap plastic stools, the ubiquitous furniture of Southeast Asian outdoor food stalls. Each fruit is analyzed in the same way that wine is sniffed and discussed at a Parisian dinner party. Also like wine, durian culture dictates that if the customer tastes it and does not like it, he can send it back.

As the region modernizes, durian culture, too, is changing. Durians are increasingly sold cut up under plastic wrap in supermarkets.

In Thailand, which has aggressively commercialized the fruit, farmers specialize in Montong, a sweet, almost saccharine, and easy-to-eat variety. Thai farmers use chemicals to coax durian trees to bear fruit in the off-season, so Montong are available year-round and are sold around the world. Thailand last year sold about 50 million durians abroad, worth about 3.2 billion baht, or $90 million.

Durian traditions are perhaps strongest in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Malay durians, many of them known only as "kampung," or country village varieties, are typically more wild, unpredictable, sometimes bitter and almost always pungent.

"To anyone who doesn't like durian, it smells like a bunch of dead cats," said Halliday, the food writer. "But as you get to appreciate durian, the smell is not offensive at all. It's attractive. It makes you drool like a mastiff."

Thailand's Montong, by contrast, has a largely uniform, bubble gum-like flavor.

The growing rift between Thailand and its southern neighbors is probably best summed up by the way the fruit is harvested: In Thailand's more efficient, standardized and productive system, durians are cut from trees and sometimes frozen for export. Malaysian and Indonesian farmers wait until the durians fall, often setting up nets to catch the fruit to avoid its cracking on impact.

The nets also ensure that the durians, which grow on tall trees, do not fall on someone's head, a painful prospect given the fruit's extremely sharp spikes.

Songpol says he is also trying to breed a thornless durian by crossing varieties from the southern Philippines. "I hope in the next two to three years we will get a flower," Songpol said.

For lovers of durian - which gets its name from "duri," the Malay word for thorn - this is too much to bear.

"You might as well be eating watermelon," Halliday said.

Pornnapa Wongakanit contributed reporting from Bangkok.

(Source: IHT News)

Stowaway piglet survives toilet roll ordeal

LONDON (Reuters) - A piglet nicknamed Andrex is recovering after being found in the back of a truck full of toilet paper at a supermarket.

The animal, thought to be two or three weeks old, was discovered in a delivery at a Tesco store in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

Staff wrapped the piglet in a duvet and called the RSPCA, a Tesco spokesman said Tuesday.

He was taken to an animal shelter in Radcliffe-on-Trent, outside Nottingham, suffering from cuts and bruises to his snout.

"We will now care for him until he is fit enough to be found a permanent home," said Ella Herring, the shelter's deputy manager.

Tesco said store workers were unsure of how the piglet came to be on the truck, but thought it may have been a prank.

"Staff are used to dealing with the unexpected, but little Andrex's arrival was a shock," a Tesco spokesman said. "They took it in their stride, wrapping him up straightaway in a duvet in the manager's office and calling the RSPCA for advice and help."

Buddhist Thai food delights Malaysia's Muslim palate

At the upscale restaurants, spotlights filtered by a bamboo screens throw a soft glow over tables covered in crisp white cloth. Metallic green silk curtains hang from a high ceiling and the food is served by Malaysian staff in Thai-style dress.

The average price for a three-course dinner is about 40 ringgit ($11.70) per person.

The signature tom yum dish is made from lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galanga, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind and crushed chilies. In Thailand, it is eaten at any time of day, in restaurants or from street stalls.

"Most Thai dishes are fused from Chinese, Malay and Indian. That's why it's easy to satisfy people here," Thanee said.

Thanks largely to Malaysia's tom yum lovers, about 80 Thai restaurants, excluding food stalls, are spread throughout the country, where 60 percent of the population is Muslim.

Thanee, who opened his first eatery with an initial investment of $235,000 in 1999, now has 13 outlets, mostly in Kuala Lumpur. He expanded to Singapore, where he has one diner and plans to open two more next year.

"I explored many countries, but Malaysia offers the lowest cost in this region, even lower than my hometown," said the Bangkok-born Thanee.

"I am an architect, so I can put image and culture into my restaurants. I can't cook, but I can tell what is good taste."

($1= 3.425 Malaysian ringgit)

Golden Temple Near Vellore

One of the biggest Hindu shrines in southern India, the Sri Puram Golden Temple a grand golden temple built by a spiritual organization in Tamil Nadu at an approximate cost of Rs 600 crore, the consecration (kumbhabhishekam) was performed on August 24, 2007, presence of over 30,000 devotees.

The Mahalakshmi temple, located on a sprawling 100 acres of land at Sripuram, near Vellore, about 125 km from Chennai, has been constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peetam, headed by spiritual leader Sri Sakthi Amma.

"The Taj Mahal was built as an expression of love for a single person but the Sri Puram Golden Temple stands for unconditional love for the entire humanity," says Amma, 31, who also goes by the name of Shakti Siddha.


"We know it is also the sign of the universal goddess - Lakshmi," says William, who gives only one name and says he is of Canadian origin.

The steps that lead to the innermost section are laid with polished black and grey granite from the neighbouring South Arcot and Dharmapuri districts. A cubic metre of black granite is priced at 0. So is the grey stone called "Paradiso" because of its wavy patterns of violet with the colour of iron. And this too has been used in large quantities.

"If we had built a hospital, factory, educational institution or a business, it would have ended up serving a small community. But now, Amma's temple will sow the seeds of goodness in the hearts of everyone who visits here," Amma, clad in ochre robes, says in Tamil.

The temple, covering 55,000 sq ft area, has intricate carvings and sculptures in gold. Except the walking path, the entire structure has been made of gold and copper. This would be more grandeur than the Golden Temple in Amritsar , mutt sources said.

About 400 goldsmiths and coppersmiths, including craftsmen from Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams, have completed the architectural marvel in gold in six years..

More than one and half tone of pure gold was glitter and gleam under the sun, Devotees hail the temple as 'one of the wonders of the world' and say that it is the only temple covered fully with gold.

According to official sources, the gold bars were purchased through RBI in "a transparent manner." First the coppersmiths set to work creating a copper base on the temple structure with engravings and etchings before the gold, beaten into nine layers of foils, was draped around it.

The sanctum sanctorum will hold the deity of Mahalakshmi made of stone granite, but covered with gold kavacham (adornments).

"The Sripuram or Spiritual Park is Amma's dedication to the world and mankind," said P Murali, a trustee of the Peetam.

The temple has been designed in such a way that visitors can reach the golden temple only after going through a star-shaped pathway, which has the quotes from Gita, Bible and Quran displayed on either side.

Surrounded by mountains and lush and scenic beauty, the temple, entirely conceived and designed by 'Amma', would be open to people of all religions. "The temple is Amma's gift to mankind," the sources said.

"When one enters the Sripuram, their focus is just on the magnificent temple. But when they leave, they cannot do so without taking some messages and gaining some wisdom," according to a booklet detailing the 'services' rendered by the Peetam. "In this quagmire of materialism, Sripuram rises as an inspiration to man to find the divinity within him," adds a brochure

Murali said arrangements were being made to hire personnel to throw a security cover around the temple. "But the gold sheets have been laid out in such a manner that it would cost more to rip it off than purchase the gold," said a top Vellore district official.

source: http://modernbarbarian.blogspot.com

BEWARE OF PAPER AT THE BACK GLASS OF YOUR VEHICLE

Especially ladies drivers beware,

Alert all car owners, especially those who drive to Malaysia, this is the
new trick of car jacking !!!
BEWARE OF PAPER AT THE BACK GLASS OF YOUR VEHICLE

NEW WAY TO DO CAR JACKING (NOT A JOKE!!!)


Heads up everyone. Please, keep this circulating...

You walk! across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside.

You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the
rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of
paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park,
unlock your doors, and jump out of yourcar to remove that paper (or
whatever it is) that is obstructingyour view.

When you reach the back of your car, that is when thecar hacker's) appear
out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you
down as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.

So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, yourmoney, and your
keys. Your home and your whole identity is now compromised!

BEWARE OFTHIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away.

Remove the paper later.

Msia's 80s baby

If you are Msia's 80s baby,read through
this, we grew up watching Transformers,
Thundercats, Woody Woodpecker,
Chipmunks, Mickey Mouse, Jem, Mask,
Ninja Turtles, Voltron, Baja Hitam,
Ultraman n not forgettin POWER RANGERS
n BUGS BUNNY!!!and anderra yippa mice?
:), McGyver ?

had to brush our teeths during recess
at primary school? had to hold plastic
cups, line up with your classmates side
by side and start brushing our teeths
at some open area... or maybe near some
drain??

do you still remember that we had
'dentist' rooms where we had to have
our teeths check?

not to forget our 'program minum susu'
in primary school.. everybody is
suppose to buy like cartons of milk that costed
30 cents.. and you would see everyone
drinking it everyday...its d UHT
milk...

the teachers who would want to punish
us must use yellow rulers to hit us on
our palms?? 1 metre length..

that a bowl of mihun soup or some soup
only costed 50 cents at the school
canteen...

went to some sundry shop near the
school or to the 'roti' man waiting outside
our schools so that we can buy junk food
like chickedees, mamee, ding dang with
some toys in it, 'Ti Kam', ice-cream
and we would play games like monopoly, uno,
old maid, and all other card games like
that...

another fun time would be during
Pendidikan Jasmani. the boys would
play football while the girls would
play netball... and it would be like we
were playing in the world cup...

but of course. the best would be main
guli, batu seremban, bottlecaps, ice-
cream sticks, 'Pepsi Cola one-two-three',
Cops and Robbers, main
kejar-kejar duduk,getah... and for the
not so active, those kind of 'book
games' where we would use buku latihan
to draw and ask our friends to play...

do you remember the ice-cream tubes
which are actually ice and colouring
that are sold for 10 to 20 cents.. the
colourful ones.. where you usually bite
off the top to glup it down.orange
tastes b best..(pop-ice)

what about days when we felt like doing
naughty things such as folding papers
so small to make 'lastik' amd shoot
each other... how about throwing
chalks??

back then, micheal jackson was just
turning white.. and still had albums
coming out.. compared to CD's, we were
listening to tapes that sold for RM9.90
...

in computer class, we were still using
black and white computer moniters..
played 'Atari'... maybe SEGA or
NINTENDO..

well, are we all getting older or what?

1) if you understand what you have read
and you are smiling...

2) we have friends from school that are
already married...

3) we shake our heads everytime we
see high school students fussing about
their handphones in school..

4) we don't hang on phone with our
friends for hours a day talking about
nothing...

5) when we meet back with our friends
from time to time, we feel excited and
happy talking about old times, the
funny 'adventures' or stories that we
experienced as a kid..

6) last but not least, that when you
read this, you would think of all the
happy & sad memories that you have
experienced when you were still a kid
and would think of forwarding this to
your old friends that you have known
since forever... i'm sure they would
have a huge smile on their face after
reading this.....

p.s: if u feel u're one of them who
experinced this, repost this to share
it
wif ur frens... ;)