Remember the pre-dot bomb era?

Companies are trying to make their workplace more attractive by loosening up a little.

Take this company in Malaysia called MindValley.

Developers there are on 20" LCD monitors and have a notebook each as well as other perks such as free soft drinks etc. Cool eh?

In Malaysia I know it has now become the employee's marketplace as I've gotten job offers these past few weeks even though I'm not looking for a job :).  Good times ...

iPhone not available in Malaysia

June 29th was the launch of the iPhone in the US but there's no news yet whether the product will be here in Malaysia. Apple mentioned a worldwide release but I guess that's not a simultaneous worldwide release.

Bummer. :(

Uneasy Relationship:Malaysian Bloggers - Media

The Star was one of the first media sites in Malaysia to recognise the bloggers, but that doesn't mean that the relationship has always been smooth. Remember, two high profile bloggers here have been sued for defamation by The New Straits Times. The suit only seems to have united the local blogging community.

read the rest from Guardian Unlimited

Gerik, Perak prize money increase

This is an update for the Gerik Chess tournament

The organisers have pushed the first prize to RM 600.

JOHAN RM600.00

N.JOHAN RM400.00

KE-3 RM300.00

KE-4 RM250.00

KE-5 RM200.00

KE-6 RM150.00

KE-7 RM100.00

KE-8 RM50.00

KE-9 RM50.00

KE-10 RM50.00

FIDE congratulates Secretary General Ignatius Leong on his marriage

Congratulations to FIDE Secretary General Ignatius Leong
of Singapore on his wedding in Singapore last weekend to Celine Dao of
Vietnam. Over 300 guests, including a delegation of 29 from Veitnam and
representatives of ten federations from around Asia and Europe joined
in celebrating their nuptials.

~ read the full article from FIDE website

1st Club INTCHESS – National Schools Grand Prix...

1^st

Club INTCHESS – National Schools Grand Prix 2007  

1. The 1^st
   
   Club INTCHESS-National Schools Grand Prix Grand Prix is sponsored by
   
   the ASEAN Chess Academy and organized by Intchess (M) Sdn. Bhd. together
   
   with various participating state Schools Sports Councils.
   
   

2. Objectives of this
   
   event are to give young players opportunities to play regularly with
   
   their peers and to be rewarded for their results with training assistance
   
   to assist their talent development.
   
   

3. The Grand Prix will
   
   be held in three separate categories (U-12, U-16 and Challengers) and
   
   will comprise of 8 legs (4 in Kuala Lumpur) and a Final (Kuala Lumpur).
   
   

4. Each leg of the
   
   grand prix leg will be played over 6 rounds using the Swiss system while
   
   the finals will be played over 7 rounds. The time control is 60 minutes
   
   (30 minutes each) per round for each leg of the grand prix with a 90
   
   minute (45 minutes each) time control to be used at the grand prix finals
   
   where chess notation will be compulsory.
   
   

5. Entry fees:

Categories:	Entry Fees
	Grand Prix Leg	Grand Prix Finals
U-12 category (Primary only)	RM10	RM20
U-16 category (Secondary only)	RM15	RM30
Challengers (Under FIDE rating 2000 & unrated)	RM20	RM40

;

6)Dates & Venue:

Grand Prix 1st Leg	03.2.2007 (Sat)
Grand Prix 2nd Leg PSKC Cochrane	25.3.2007 (Sun)
Grand Prix 3rd Leg Kuala Lumpur Convention Center	15.4.2007 (Sun)
Grand Prix 4th Leg PKSC Cochrane	24.6.2007 (Sun)
Grand Prix Finals	?

7)Schedule:

Grand Prix

(All Legs)

Registration	08:30am – 09:30am
Round 1	10.00am – 11:00am
Round 2	11:10am – 12:10pm
Round 3	12:20pm – 01:20pm
Lunch Break	01:20pm – 02:20pm
Round 4	02:20pm – 03:20pm
Round 5	03:30pm – 04:30pm
Round 6	04:40pm – 05:40pm
Prize Presentation:	06:00pm

Grand Prix Finals

28.7.2007		 
Registration	08:30am – 09:30am	 
Round 1	10.00am – 12:00am	 
Lunch Break	12.00pm – 01.00 pm	 
Round 2	01.00pm – 03.00pm	 
Round 3	03.15pm – 05.15pm	 

29.07.2007
Round 4	09.00am – 11.00am
Round 5	11:10pm – 01:10pm
Lunch Break	01:10pm – 02:10pm
Round 6	02:10pm – 04:10pm
Round 7	04:20pm – 06:20pm
Prize Presentation	06:30pm

8. Prizes:

Grand

Prix Leg

Challenger/U-16/U12 Champion(s)	Gold Medal & Certificate
Challenger/U-16/U12 Runner – up (s)	Silver Medal & Certificate
Challenger/U-16/U12 3rd placing (s)	Bronze Medal & Certificate
Special Prizes	 
Best U–8	Trophy & Certificate
Best U–10	Trophy & Certificate

* Players with a 50%

score from each grand prix leg will also be given certificates of achievement.

* The top ten players with the highest cumulative scores totaled from all legs played will receive freeentry into the Grand Prix Finals. (Points collected will be based on actual score in each leg)

Grand Prix Overall (1^st to

8^th Leg Scores

Combined)

Challenger/U-16/U12 Champion(s)	*Full ACA Scholarship (3 courses)
Challenger/U-16/U12 Runner – up (s)	*1 Free ACA Course & 50% off all other ACA courses
Challenger/U-16/U12 3rd placing (s)	* 50% off all ACA courses for 1 year

* The ASEAN Chess Academy

courses awarded as prizes will only be valid for 1 year from the datebof issue and are non-transferable.

* The Grand Prix Final

prizes will be determined at a later stage. 

9. The following tie-breaks
   
   will be used (in order):
1. Buchholz
2. Sonneborn-Berger
3. Cumulative

10. For the U- 12
    
    category is mainly primary school while for the U – 16 category is
    
    for secondary students. For the Challenger, the participants have to
    
    be above 16 yrs old while still studying and FIDE rating less 2000.

11. For registration
    
    and/or enquiries, please contact :

Intchess

(M) Sdn. Bhd.: 03-2300 1680

MSSKL:

1) Cikgu Syam Irza: 019-345 5307

2) Cikgu Yusrinizam: 019-261 7571

3) Cikgu Khairil Helmi: 013-345 5849

4) Cikgu Rahman: 019-252 6121 

Or go to www.intchess.com to register online.

12)The organizer reserves

the right to make any necessary changes to the program or rules, before

or during the tournament to ensure the tournament runs smoothly.

Ignatius Leong gets married

Taken from: http://www.intchessasia.com/

On 12th May 2007 Mr Ignatius Leong got married. The
wedding ceremony took place in Vung Tàu (Vietnam). Mr Leong’s spouse is
Vietnamese and thus a Vietnamese traditional ceremony was in order. On
9th June 2007 a much bigger wedding celebration will take place in
Singapore. A number of leading chess people are on the invitation list,
including FIDE President Mr Kirsan Illyumzhinov and the Chairman of
Global Chess BV, Mr Bessel Kok. The Intchess team wishes a happy,
prosperous and long life to the Leong family!

Zarul is National Chess Champ

Newly-crowned National Master Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli

receiving his championship trophy from YB Dato’ Hajah Jahara bt Hamid,

DSPN, PJK, Penang EXCO and Chairman of Youth and Sports, Women, Family

and Community Development Committee. Photo © GilaChess

National Women Chess

The Wahidduddin sisters – Fadzilah, Khairunnusa and


Nurul Huda – scored identical eight points but were


separated only on count back for the final standing.

In the Under-20 division, Lee Kar Kheng finished ahead


of the competition while Najwa Abdul Jalal from


Terengganu was the winner in the Under-16 and Adeline


Gan took the title for the Under-14.

You can read more from GilaChess report on that event.

Funny Anime

Check out the new anime for Cartoon Network.



The hero is hero is this character that has 5 foot steel retractable nose hair. He
uses that as weapons to defend against the villain Czar Baldy Bald IV,
who has started a “Hair Hunt” to turn all citizens bald. You can find
trailers at the Official Website. The story line is wacky and funny.



This is not a paid post but I like to give them props all the same :)

Tan Eu Hong and Sumant in the lead

The Malaysian Chess National Closed 2007 is turning out to be an interesting affair. The favourites Tan Khai Boon and Ismail Ahmad have taken a fall and the leaders are now Tan Eu Hong and Sumant Subramaniam. Both are with 5.5 points out of 6. Eu Hong according to the polls conducted at my website is the least likely favoured to win the National Closed. Just shows how wrong public expectation can be compared to reality.



It's not over yet as there are 3 more rounds to go. Anything can happen. Check out the results at GilaChess.com

Powered by ScribeFire.

iPhone coming out in June 15

Here's another unverified rumour started by this letter below:-

To: All Company Owned Retail Employees



From: [Name removed]



Subject: iPhone Launch Period



Date: May 4, 2007



As previously announced, Apple and AT&T will soon debut the iPhone,

which combines a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and

breakthrough internet communications into one small and lightweight

handheld device. The new AT&T has a multiyear, exclusive agreement to

provide U.S. service for the iPhone.



To ensure proper staffing during the product launch period, Sales personnel

planning to take approved time off are encouraged to schedule their

vacations before June 15 or after July 15 to participate in the iPhone

launch.



Previously approved vacation will be allowed where voluntary rescheduling

is not feasible



No additional vacation requests will be approved during the launch period

(6/15 – 7/15).



I want to thank you in advance for your understanding as this is likely to

be the biggest selling period we have seen in a few years.



Happy Selling,



[Name removed]



I really can't wait to see an actual iPhone after all the hype it generated.

National Closed in Penang

It's already 4 rounds and there is three leaders out of a total of 64 players in the Malaysian Chess Closed.



This year is very different as there are no titled players or players who are considered very strong. This has made the whole competition an open race and anyone can win. Arguably one of the weakest National Closed we have had but it'll be interesting who will become National Champ.



One of my picks is this fellow, Tan Khai Boon.





Here he is just defeating Sarawak champion (right) Lim Kian Hwa.

5xmom appears in The Star newspaper

Well it's her blog anyway. She says her blog appears on The Star today. I'll have to buy a copy on my way back from work afterwards.

Then again, my Make$ Money$ got mentioned is an honour already. Just to make it clearer, I have made RM1,400 since nuffnang was launched.

Chan Lilian or 5xmom actually makes big bucks from her 10 or more websites (mostly blogs) and she is quite a character. Very outspoken and quite popular judging from her 3000 unique visitors per day on one of her blogs. I can't even get 100 visitors :(



Anyway, folks, if you want a sifu or mentor on money making 5xmom is a very good choice.

Check her out on 5xmom.com and chanlilian.net (she should have booked chanlilian dot com :) )

Malaysia Economic Growth to pick up in 2nd half

MALAYSIA'S economy probably started the year on
a slower note during the first quarter, mostly due to weaker external
demand, economists say.

They said the robust services sector, mainly
tourism activities, will likely offset the weaker performance recorded
by the manufacturing sector during the year's first four months.

The
economists however believe that overall economic growth is likely to
pick up during the second half of 2007, largely on stronger
investments, better fiscal spending and an improved global electrical
and electronics industry.



Read more from Business Times



Good news indeed. I have a feeling that things are beginning to pick up.

Sitting in your car getting arrested for stealing WiFi

Sam Peterson was arrested under a Michigan law barring access to anyone else's network without authorization; he is being prosecuted for using a cafe's free WiFi from his car. The cafe's WiFi network was reserved for customers – Peterson never came into the Union Street Café – and instead used its free WiFi from the comfort of his car, every single day. A police officer grew suspicious of Peterson and eventually questioned him as to what he was up to. "I knew that the Union Street had WiFi. I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn't see a problem with that," Peterson told a reporter.



Under Michigan's "Fraudulent access to computers, computer systems, and computer networks" law, Peterson's actions could result in a five-year felony and a $10,000 fine. However, prosecutors do not plan to throw the book at him, as they don't believe that Peterson was aware he was even breaking the law. Instead, he will pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, and the arrest will not go on his record. Coincidentally, the cafe owner that Peterson was leeching WiFi off of didn't even realize that what Peterson was doing was a crime at the time. Neither did the police officer. "I had a feeling a law was being broken, but I didn't know exactly what," said Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski.

News source: Ars Technica



My 2 cents:



That's just plain stupid. How can you fine a person USD 400 for using WiFi while in your car outside a coffee shop. I've done this many times. Sometimes I stop at a Mamak stall that has WiFi signal creeping in from a nearby Starbucks cafe. Should I be arrested too?



I can just imagine if there was a mugging or a robbery nearby and we see this cop arresting this innocent young man sitting in his car, checking his email!



That's just wrong.

Malaysia goes high tech vs Pirates

Hey if you are watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 there may actually be real pirates in the cinema crowd! :)

Night vision used to catch film pirates. 28/05/2007. ABC News Online


Malaysian cinemas have found a powerful new weapon in their fight against movie pirates - military-style night vision goggles.

After showing people to their seats, trained ushers strap on the
goggles and scan darkened cinemas around the country to spot anyone
trying to make illegal copies of movies with hand-held video recorders
or mobile phones.

The Motion Picture Association, which is training Malaysian ushers
to catch the pirates, say cinemas have caught 17 people in the past two
months, during which Hollywood studios released blockbusters like
Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Wow 17 people already caught! Has anybody seen the ushers wearing those goggles? And in which cinemas? TGV?

Converted PostNuke website to WordPress

My main website, GilaChess.com was running on PostNuke for 6 years already!!



However, after using WordPress for quite some time I find that WordPress can actually act as a better Content Management System (CMS).



So last Sunday night when I recovered from my fever, I just installed WordPress over GilaChess.com to see how it looked with my old GilaChess content. It looks great!! Also another bonus is that I get to keep my old content without overwriting the old CMS files. So I didn't have to go thru the headache of converting all the old content to WordPress. Instead I just link to the old content and will probably call the link "archive".





Another reason is WordPress is better at bringing in the search engines. I want Google to know GilaChess.com exists!



I'm confident with WordPress my site will rise in traffic rankings from Google, Alexa and Technorati in no time.

Bedridden for the weekend

I overworked myself on Friday night and didn't sleep till Saturday morning.



I was working on some office work and I really hate it when there are deadlines like this to meet.



What's worse was that when I woke up in the afternoon, my head was spinning with a low-grade fever. Didn't  see the doctor as I really hate doctors! On Sunday morning I was better but still tired and weak. Was supposed to work on some websites but just didn't have the mood or energy. So I tried to rest fully on Sunday as Monday will be another hectic work day. :(

I bought Susan Polgar a gift domain name

I bought Women Chess World Champ Susan Polgar a domain name for her 2nd year blog anniversary. At the beginning it was for her wedding to Paul Truong but when I sent the gift, she told me it was also her blog anniversary. The domain name I bought : SusanPolgarBlog.com



I bought the domain name from GoDaddy.