What is the Google's next?

According to Google, its name derives from a "Googol" -- a mathematical term for a one followed by 100 zeros. But those cricket fans know better -- a "Googly" is a ball that spins and bounces in unpredictable directions, and you are never quite sure what it's going to do next.

gPhone?

Google is expected to announce advanced software and services enabling handset makers to bring Google-powered phones to market by mid-2008, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The announcement is expected to come within the next two weeks, the newspaper reported. I'm very excited about this!!!

Mac OS X Leopard is now available!

Airbus A380 Opens New Era With First Flight to Sydney

The Airbus SAS A380, the world's biggest passenger aircraft, opened a new era in air travel today by completing its first commercial flight.

The Singapore Airlines Ltd. flight SQ380 left Singapore airport at 8am with 455 passengers and 28 crew and touched down in Sydney 7 1/2 hours later.

On board, the carrier offers suite, business and economy classes.

The suites, created by French luxury-yacht designer Jean- Jacques Coste, have a pitch -- or distance between rows -- of 6 feet, 9 inches (2 meters), and are separated by sliding full- length screens.

Rising Costs

Development costs rose for the A380 after French and German planners used different computer-design tools, forcing workers to install 300 miles (482 kilometers) of wiring.

Airbus expects to sell at least 800 planes in 20 years, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy said Oct 12.

Apple is the most valuable computer hardware maker in the world!

With remarkably strong 4th quarter results, Apple passed an important milestone. Apple has a larger market capitalization than IBM, meaning simply that Apple is now the most valuable computer hardware maker in the world. Let me say that again: Apple is, as of this writing, trading at USD185.88 per share giving it a market cap of USD162.15 billion, compared to IBM at USD153.66 billion, HP at USD133.03 billion and Dell at a measly USD64.72 billion. When you put it that way it seems almost preposterous, but the numbers are what they are. Of course, all the standard provisos about market cap apply, but nonetheless I'm sure they're savoring this in Cupertino.

Kimi's way...

Australia
Kimi Raikkonen takes pole, victory and fastest lap on his Ferrari debut. Reigning champion Fernando Alonso is second in his maiden McLaren outing, while team mate Lewis Hamilton scores a podium in his first Grand Prix.
Standings: Raikkonen 10, Alonso 8, Hamilton 6

Malaysia
McLaren up the ante, with Alonso leading Hamilton home for a one-two finish ahead of Raikkonen. Alonso takes the championship lead.
Standings: Alonso 18, Raikkonen 16, Hamilton 14

Bahrain
Felipe Massa takes his first Ferrari win of the season, ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen. Alonso comes home fifth, leaving a three-way tie at the top of the table.
Standings: Alonso 22, Raikkonen 22, Hamilton 22

Spain
Massa makes it two on the trot, while Hamilton beats Alonso to second on the Spaniard’s home turf to take the championship lead for the first time. Raikkonen retires with electrical problems.
Standings: Hamilton 30, Alonso 28, Raikkonen 22

Monaco
Amid allegations of team orders, Alonso beats Hamilton and the pair leave the Principality level on points. Raikkonen’s challenge looks to be fading after he finishes eighth.
Standings: Alonso 38, Hamilton 38, Raikkonen 23

Canada
After an already record-breaking podium run, Hamilton clinches his first Formula One win. Fifth for Raikkonen and only seventh for Alonso means the rookie takes an eight-point lead to Indianapolis.
Standings: Hamilton 48, Alonso 40, Raikkonen 27

United States
Pole position and another win sees Hamilton extend his advantage to 10 points over Alonso, who crosses the line second. Raikkonen’s fourth place sees him fall 26 points off the lead.
Standings: Hamilton 58, Alonso 48, Raikkonen 32

France
Raikkonen keeps himself in contention with his second win of the season. Massa makes it a Ferrari one-two, while third for Hamilton extends his championship lead over Alonso - who finishes seventh - to 14 points.
Standings: Hamilton 64, Alonso 50, Raikkonen 42

Britain
Win number three for Raikkonen, putting him back within 20 points of leader Hamilton, who is beaten to second place in his home race by Alonso.
Standings: Hamilton 70, Alonso 58, Raikkonen 52

Europe
Alonso victorious in dramatic wet-dry race. After nine successive podiums, Hamilton fails to score for the first time and sees his advantage slashed to just two points. Raikkonen retires with hydraulic problems.
Standings: Hamilton 70, Alonso 68, Raikkonen 52

Hungary
After their infamous qualifying run-in, Hamilton inherits pole from Alonso, who is demoted to fifth on the grid. The rookie converts it to victory to pull away from his team mate in the table once more. Raikkonen takes second, Alonso fourth.
Standings: Hamilton 80, Alonso 73, Raikkonen 60

Turkey
Massa beats Raikkonen for a Ferrari one-two, with Alonso third. A puncture forces a damage-limitation exercise from Hamilton, who trails home in fifth.
Standings: Hamilton 84, Alonso 79, Raikkonen 68

Italy
Alonso has the edge over Hamilton as McLaren route Ferrari on the Italians’ home turf. It puts them just three points apart with four rounds remaining. Raikkonen finishes a distant third.
Standings: Hamilton 92, Alonso 89, Raikkonen 74

Belgium
Raikkonen wins in commanding fashion from Massa, with Alonso third and Hamilton fourth. The gap shrinks to just two points.
Standings: Hamilton 97, Alonso 95, Raikkonen 84

Japan
Hamilton weathers the Fuji storm to win, extending his championship lead to 12 points after Alonso crashes out. Raikkonen’s third place keeps him in the hunt - just.
Standings: Hamilton 107, Alonso 95, Raikkonen 90

China
Hamilton fails to wrap things up, instead sliding out on worn tyres. Raikkonen and Alonso take full advantage, finishing first and second to set up a three-way title showdown at the final round.
Standings: Hamilton 107, Alonso 103, Raikkonen 100

Brazil
It all goes wrong for Hamilton, who can only finish seventh after gearbox gremlins. Raikkonen secures the win, and with Massa depriving Alonso of second, the rank outsider becomes champion.
Standings: Raikkonen 110, Hamilton 109, Alonso 109

Kimi Räikkönen won the 2007 world title!

Kimi Räikkönen, denied two world titles with McLaren previously, won the Brazilian GP at Interlagos to take his first Formula One World Championship.

The Finnish "Iceman", who started the race in third place in the championship, saw off both McLaren-Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to snatch the trophy after Hamilton had led the title chase for most of the season.

Räikkönen was followed across the line in a Ferrari 1-2 by Felipe Massa, with Alonso third.

Hoo-ray! Kimi Räikkönen really deserved for it!

Google's Next Stop: $800 a Share?

By Dan Gallagher

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- The fact that nearly all analysts covering Google Inc. already rate the stock as a buy has not dissuaded them from showing their love for the Web search giant following its latest earnings report.

In this case, Wall Street responded to the report by pumping up its price targets on Google (GOOG) -- some of which put the stock north of the $800 mark. This implies an upside of more than 20% for a stock that has already surged by 50% in the past 12 months.

Late Thursday, Google reported a sharp jump in earnings for the third quarter amid continued strong demand for its ad services. Earnings grew despite rising expenses stemming from a continued hiring spree.

The news gave another boost to the stock, putting the shares above the $650 mark for the first time to set a new all-time high.

Sentiment on Wall Street is already highly bullish on Google. Out of 37 analysts covering the stock, 34 rate the stock as a buy with only three carrying neutral ratings, according to Thomson Financial. There are no sell calls on Google at present.

Cheered by the earnings results, at least 16 analysts raised their price targets on Google. The changes moved Street median target price from $657.50 to $722.50.

At least four brokers have established price targets at or above the $800 mark, with the highest coming in at $850, according to Thomson data.

Still a cheap valuation?

At $800, Google would be trading at nearly 40 times the Street's average earnings estimate for 2008. That's actually a cheaper valuation than rival Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) , which trades about 55 times next year's expected earnings.

"We believe that, given the expanding opportunities, there is potential for higher estimates and multiple expansion, and that this price target may prove conservative," wrote Steve Weinstein of Pacific Crest, who pushed his target price from $600 to $850.

In a report to clients, Weinstein noted that his target represents a multiple of only 30 times his earnings estimate for 2009, "which we consider reasonable given Google's strong growth, the potential upside from the pending DoubleClick acquisition and the mobile opportunity."

Rob Sanderson of American Technology Research bumped his target to $815 from $685, saying the company is "strategically positioned so far ahead of competitors that it can comfortably slow expansion and still outpace others."

Sanderson said his new target represents a multiple of 35 times the average of his earnings estimates for the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years.

"We believe that 12-months from now, Google can achieve a 30x multiple on 2009, which would imply an $865 stock in one year," he added.

Heath Terry at Credit Suisse pushed his target price to $800 from $600.

"While the stock has had a strong run in recent weeks we believe further upside is likely near term and certain long term as investors come to better appreciate the long term opportunity for Google in search and beyond, something that isn't reflected in the stock at 30x '08 pro-forma EPS," Terry wrote in a note Friday.

Calls for a split

While it has encouraged many analysts to steadily bump targets higher, Google's blistering stock surge has also spurred at least one call for a split.

Needham & Co. analyst Mark May released a note to clients Tuesday advising that the Internet company undertake a stock split, in order to make its shares more accessible to small investors.

That way, May reasoned, Google could pull in less fickle shareholders aiming to hang on for the long haul, thus reducing volatility in the share price. Currently, May wrote, roughly 84% of Google's outstanding shares are owned by institutions, whereas comparable companies have an average institutional ownership of only 67% of shares.

But any concerns about pricing out certain investors haven't stopped the bullish notes from coming.

Leland Westerfield of BMO Capital Markets -- one of the few on Wall Street to have a neutral rating on the stock -- lifted his own price target to $690 but remained cautious on the shares.

He said an $800 price for Google shares could be justified, but "one or two of these events needs to develop favorably, soon: a) the DoubleClick merger brings an advantageous and unduplicable network-effect to Google intelligence, b) the upcoming 700Mhz broadband wireless auction is restructured more in favor of net-neutrality, or c) internet video ad serving develops materially."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-19-07 1537ET

Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Original source: http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20071019-000775-1537

Microsoft? A loser!

Microsoft is now the underdog to Google in the game of technology world domination.

The software giant faces growing competition in its core software business, which dominated the industry for two decades, and it hasn’t had a bottom line-galvanizing success in any other area recently. It was late to online advertising, letting Google all but run away with that sector. It hasn’t had a big Web 2.0 hit yet.

When the bombastic CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer being asked if he thought Google’s word processing and spreadsheet applications were good, he was blunt: "No, I don’t."

Microsoft has been criticized for getting into online search and advertising late and with services that weren’t quite ready for prime time. But Ballmer said he’s not upset and knows it will be a long haul to go head-to-head with Google.

And what about Microsoft’s rumored offer on the table for Yahoo!? Industry observers think the deal makes sense since Yahoo! would give Microsoft instant heft in search technologies. "That may or may not make sense to us or to Yahoo!" Ballmer said. "We believe in our independent path. We like what we’re going. If you talk to Jerry at Yahoo! he’d say they like what they’re doing."

For the past year, the company’s stock has waffled in the high $20s. It closed on Thursday, Oct 18, at $31.16. The stock hasn't been north of $32 since 2003. And there’s nothing like a new blockbuster product or service to lift share price.

MSFT currently worth $292.96 billion while GOOG at $199.65 billion.

A 32 year-old adult versus a 9 year-old boy... the battle is interesting!

Google is now the Silicon Valley's biggest!

Google, the giant search engine in Mountain View, has surpassed Cisco to become the valley's most valuable company, when the market closed on Oct 18, 2007.

Google's stock closed at $639.62, bringing its total market capital to $199.65 billion, marching to $200 billion soon.

Cisco which closed at $32.68, is breathing down the neck of Google, has a value of $199.32 billion.

The battle is still on between the two leading technology companies.

Who is destined for glory?

Ferrari determined to maximize Kimi Räikkönen's chances

Ferrari will be going all out for a one-two finish in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, in a bid to land Kimi Räikkönen his first Formula One drivers’ title. The team have already wrapped up the 2007 constructors’ crown after McLaren were stripped of their points earlier in the season.

Even if Ferrari do achieve their desired one-two in Brazil, Kimi Räikkönen would need Hamilton to finish no higher than sixth if he is to become champion.

GOOD LUCK, Kimi!

The truth...

Gmail's Storage Increases, 6 GB in January 2008

Gmail will increase the free storage gradually in the next days. On October 23, you'll get 4321 MB of storage, then the growth will slow down until January 4, when you'll have 6283 MB of storage. From January 4, you'll receive 3.3 MB every day, that's 10 times bigger than the current rate of growth.

Another good news is that Google Apps mail accounts will have the same quota as standard Gmail accounts, while Google Apps Premier Edition will have 25 GB mail accounts. Previously, Google Apps accounts had 2 GB of storage, while the business edition offered 10 GB per account.

Gmail didn't abandon the paid storage option, but you'll get around 50% more storage for the same price: 10 GB for $20/year, 40 GB for $75/year, 150 GB for $250/year and 400 GB for $500/year. The paid storage will probably become more attractive when Google adds more services, like Google Docs, JotSpot or GDrive.

"In April 2005, we started increasing Gmail storage as part of our "Infinity+1" storage plan. At that time, we realized we'd never reach infinity, but we promised to keep giving Gmail users more space as we were able," explains the Gmail Blog. Meanwhile, Yahoo and Microsoft also increased the storage (Yahoo even claims to offer "infinite" storage) and Gmail became the top webmail service with the least amount of free storage.

Gmail adjusted to have extra 300MB?

This morning I noticed that the reminder message has gone...

With the missing message, I quickly noticed an extra 300MB storage space added to the account.

Wow... that's "WOW"!!!

想你的天空

想你的天空總是帶著一點點的灰...



冷凍可以讓不同食材的水分都聚在一起，而在解凍溶化的時候，就不是分開溶化，是一起溶化。

Astronaut? C'mon, he is just a Space Tourist!

This is just another political show. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor is just another space tourist that be funded by the government. Nothing so special about the first Malaysian in space.

Few years back, the famous Mark Shuttleworth that founded the Ubuntu Foundation, spent approximately USD 20 million to self-funded his space trip and also as the first African in space. After all, he is well-known with his company, Canonical Ltd., for the promotion and commercial support of free software projects especially Ubuntu distribution, rather than his space trip.

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor? Yeah, a space kuih promoter... and he will be waiting for his Dato title very soon. Keep your eyes on, see if I'm lying.

Kimi Räikkönen secures Ferrari's 200th victory

Kimi Räikkönen secured Scuderia Ferrari's two hundredth victory from 757 Grand Prix entered in the Formula 1 World Championship. It is Kimi's fifth win with the team, his fourteenth from 121 races. It is Ferrari's eighth victory of the season and its third in four runnings of the Chinese Grand Prix.

中国游客恶习惹人厌 • 喧哗? 吐痰? 丢垃圾

（北京讯）“十一”黄金周期间，中国大陆各地景点都挤满了旅游的人潮，但是外国人眼中的大陆民众旅游行为，最难接受的是“随地吐痰、乱扔垃圾、大声喧哗”。

中国经济的崛起与开放，许多到中国大陆旅游的外国人异口同声地认为，在诸多不文明旅游行为中，大陆民众“随地吐痰、乱扔垃圾、大声喧哗”等行为是最难令人接受的。

新华社报导，来塔尔寺旅游的马来西亚克切拉媒体出版社的工作人员举例，在五台山旅游时，看到那里的卫生条件很差，垃圾就堆在那，也没人清理，结果越扔越多。

同行的游客张俊仁则表示，在佛教圣地不应大声喧哗，应该保持低声，在僧人做法事时，更应保持肃静，也不能随便拍照，但是有一些游客却做不到这些。

北京天安门严取缔

詹启舟表示，佛教圣地本应庄严肃穆，但是五台山到处商铺林立，本身商业味很浓，加上游客乱扔垃圾，大声喧哗，圣地的感觉荡然无存。而这些显然影响到境外人士对大陆旅游的满意度。

另外，黄金周期间，北京城管部门在天安门、王府井等重要景点展开“假日文明行动”，严加取缔随地吐痰、乱吐乱扔、乱贴乱画等恶习。

黄金周是中国大陆重要节日之一，中国民众全国大移动，许多外地到北京的游客都接到北京城管部门送出的一份特殊纸巾，上面印有“文明吐痰三部曲”的漫画及市容处罚条款，以此来提醒游人千万不要随地吐痰。

Original content:
http://www.sinchew.com.my/content.phtml?sec=4&artid=200710052214

Hamilton under investigation over Japan driving

Formula One stewards in Shanghai are examining new evidence concerning Lewis Hamilton’s driving behind the safety car in last weekend’s rain-swept Japanese Grand Prix.

The McLaren star was leading the pack awaiting a restart when the two cars immediately behind him - Mark Webber’s Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso - collided, putting both out of the race.

Webber and Vettel both hinted that erratic driving from Hamilton had played a role in their shunt. Video footage is understood to show the championship leader moving to the right of the track and slowing immediately prior to the accident, in which Vettel ran into the back of Webber's car.

SI vs EU

When you are changing your working environment from System Integrator to End User, probably one word says it all... BORING!

System Integrator environment is a very challenging job. We work very hard to meet the deadline and deliver the project, facing new technology and yet very confidence to do it. Very limited research hours to deploy some complex and high-end products, and we are still enjoying the pace.

No doubt, End User environment sometime gets very good compensation such as bonus, classy-farty meeting with good food, free business-class flight, and so on so forth. The package might be interesting, but you gotta be ready for a prison-way working culture. The pace is extremely slow and you definitely get bored. All the non-business-related websites will either be blocked or monitored. Everything needs to follow the procedures and yet you might not get a quick response. Furthermore, get yourself ready for all the applications regardless of online submission or hard-copy.

I’m not complaining, but somehow I have to take time in order to fit into the environment and culture. Since they granted you so much free time, why don’t we fully utilize it and make some studies and probably get some very good certifications and make a turning back to SI someday?

Yeah… Keep a place me! Cheers!

用戶投訴須付更高電話費 • 不滿馬電訊強制買配套

（八打靈再也訊）電話用戶投訴大馬電訊公司在未經用戶同意之下，將“默迪卡通話配套”強加用戶身上，導致用戶每個月必須繳付更高的電話費；大馬電訊公司將針對投訴展開調查。

星洲日報週日（9月30日）接獲馬六甲讀者禤猶恩（29歲，網絡工程師）的來電投訴，其母親林賽月是於今年二月接獲馬電訊公司代理員的來電，詢問她是否有意簽購該公司“默迪卡通話配套”；當時，母親表示沒有興趣及不愿簽購。

不料，在3月份的電話賬單內卻說明他已簽購有關配套，并要求他繳付配套的收費。

多次要求取消不果

“我家平常的電話費介於20至30令吉，現在加入此配套後，每月至少要繳付40令吉或更多！”

“我曾多次要求電訊公司取消有關配套，卻不得要領。”

他聲稱，其親戚也面對同樣的問題，而且配套比他的更貴，每月電話費至少68令吉。

另一方面，馬電訊公司公關經理友吉斯華麗表示，一般上該公司是不會在沒有獲得用戶的同意下強硬用戶購買配套，針對有關投訴，該公司將會展開調查。

馬電訊將展開調查

馬電訊公司“Let's Talk”計劃的負責人特麗斯表示，近來該公司共接獲2、3宗類似的投訴，因此，該公司會針對個別投訴個案展開深入調查。

她說，目前該公司是委任一家代理公司負責促銷“Let's Talk”計劃（投訴者所指的默迪卡通話配套），並非由馬電訊公司本身處理。

她表示，為了避免發生代理公司從中獲利的事件，凡通過代理以電話方式口頭答應簽購配套的用戶，電訊公司會再發出一張通知書，以確認用戶真正有興趣簽購後，才會向用戶收費。

詢及投訴者取消有關配套時面對難題的問題，她說，其實，用戶只需致電通知取消即可，至於辦理取消手續的處理時間也不會太久，約需1個月，因為該公司必須調查是否是用戶毀約還是代理方面出現問題。 （星洲日報•2007.10.01）

Original content: http://search.sinchew-i.com/node/43182

First Day at Work

The first day on a new job can be more harrowing than the process of getting hired. Not only that, the first day on a new job is a lot like the first day of school. You have to find the washrooms and the cafeteria, get all your supplies, meet new people, and maybe do some work.

You know what? The first day of work is the hardest, because we don't know what to expect. Will my boss be a tyrant? Will I be late and forever labeled a slacker?

You may be in a "probationary" period for the first few months of a new job, and watched more closely than other employees. Fellow employees can be harsher judges than the bosses who hired you.

If you take a closer look, you will probably know the corporate culture. When do they take lunch? Out or at their desks? Are they work quietly or chat across cubicles.

With all of the observations that keep you busy, the first day will definitely pass very quickly...

By the way, my boss is still in Houston, I will be probably seeing him in two weeks time.