Roomba Dance Fix - Check Bumper Optical Sensors

If you have the unfortunate but possibly inevitable Rooma dance symptom and before you attempt to follow anis' detailed cleaning procedure as quoted in my previous Roomba post, try cleaning the optical sensors for the bumper first!

Not to be confused with the cliff sensors that are located at the bottom of the bumper itself, there are two pairs of optical sensors which are on the main chassis and work together with the bumper to detect that the robot has reached an obstacle in front.

To start, follow the common procedure to remove four screws inside the bumper, remove the bumper from the chassis by detaching a cable connector inside, and locate a black plastic arm on both sides in the chassis as shown in the following two photos. I've pointed out where the sensors are with big fat arrows.

Roomba bumper left arm

Roomba bumper right arm

Once you have found them, use a wet tissue or wipe to clean the sensors. Then test if the cleaning helps by connecting the bumper's cable back and giving the robot a go.



If it still doesn't work, you may have to try cleaning something else.

If it works for you, here's why. Examine the following photo, which indicates the direction of the plastic arm when it is actuated by some contact on the bumper. As long as the sensors cannot "see" through the hole in the arm (in this case due to the dirt covering them), the robot would think that it has hit an obstacle and tries to turn itself away from that side. Ergo, Roomba dance.

Roomba bumper arm movement direction

Now, put the screws back inside, take your Roomba for a spin, and do the chicken dance yourself.

Technorati Tags: roomba, roomba dance, circle dance, optical sensor

Nokia N78 Packet Data Connections

For those who have the Nokia N78 mobile phone and are having difficulties getting packet data connections over GPRS and 3G, I have found one solution. This problem happens after you have downloaded or configured your operator's access points (Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Connection -> Destinations) and when you want to connect for web browsing or sending multimedia messages (MMS). The phone will show a message saying "connection not available".

Solution is simple. Go to Menu -> Tools -> Settings -> Connection -> APN control. A message will say "Reading content from SIM card". After that, it should display another message "Connections restrictions inactive". If it does not, go to Options -> Deactivate restrictions. Exit all the way back to the standby display and try web browsing or sending a MMS.

The help page for "Restrict connections" is described:

With the access point control service, packet data connections from your device may be restricted to certain access points only.

Your SIM card may not support the access point control service. Contact your service provider for more information.

Let me know if this works for you.

The following is a good site to be updated on Nokia software updates, which recently announced firmware version 12.046 for the Nokia N78. This release includes performance improvements for softkey selection, Bluetooth stability, video playback, e-mail sending and alarm clock functions.

<URL:http://europe.nokia.com/A4577225>

Technorati Tags: nokia, n78, nokia n78, mobile phone, packet data, data connection, connection not available, access point, apn control, connection restrictions

Fuel Price Hike in Malaysia - Justified?

This is an interesting topic that has been bugging Malaysians as much as crime and corruption here.

I have tried to reduce the drama and grammatical errors but none of it is written by me. There are areas which I do not agree with or find doubtful, which I have highlighted in italics.

Enjoy!

---start---
What is never mentioned in mainstream media like NST/TheStar/Utusan/BH are these facts....

Malaysian Per Capita Income USD 5000 VS Singaporean Per Capita Income USD 25000

The Star made a comparison of prices in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

For Thailand it is quoted at RM3.90/litre, however are they aware that in Thailand new cars are cheaper than Malaysia by RM10,000? They pay only one life time for their driving license? No renewal fee after that? Also that goes for road tax as well? And did The Star report that you can drive all the way from Hadtyai to Bangkok on a six lane highway without paying any tolls?

Here in Malaysia you have to pay yearly renewal for road tax, driving license and tolls, tolls, tolls!!!

For Singapore, how can you quote RM5.20? Please quote in Singapore Dollars because they are earning in Sing Dollars. You might as well say Europeans are paying RM10/litre. RM5.20/litre = S$2.20/litre, still cheaper than Malaysia in view of the fact that Singapore is not a crude oil exporter. Are you saying that you fill up petrol in Singapore by paying Ringgit?

In economics, dollar to dollar must be compared as apple to apple. Not comparing like durian in Malaysia is much cheaper than durian in Japan! Of course, Japan is not durian producer! Comparing Malaysian durians with Thailand durians would make more sense!

For Indonesia we might say it is cheaper there at RM2.07/litre but compare that to their level of income!

Now, let us compare the price with oil producing countries:

• UAE - RM1.19/litre
• Eygpt - RM1.03/litre
• Bahrain - RM0.87/litre
• Qatar - RM0.68/litre
• Kuwait - RM0.67/litre
• Saudi Arabia - RM0.38/litre
• Iran - RM0.35/litre
• Nigeria - RM0.32/litre
• Turkmenistan - RM0.25/litre
• Venezuela - RM0.16/litre
• Malaysia - RM2.70/litre

RM 2.70!!! Individual perspective:

As of last month, a Toyota Vios would cost about RM89,000. In the international market, a Toyota Vios is about USD19,000 or RM62,700 (using the indicative rates of USD1 = RM 3.30). That makes Malaysian Vios owners pay an extra RM26,300.

This RM26,300 should be cost of operations, profit and tax because the transportation costs have been factored in to the USD19,000. RM26,300/ RM625 petrol rebate per year translates to a Vios being used for 42.08 years.

I do understand that the RM 625 is a rebate given by the Malaysian Government, but it also means that one has to use the Vios for 42.08 years just to make back the amount paid in taxes for the usage of a foreign car. Would anyone use any kind of car for that long?

Now with these numbers in front of us, does the subsidy sound like one or does it sound like a penalty? This just seems to be a heavy increment in our daily cost of living as we are not only charged with high car taxes but also with a drastic increase in fuel price.

With all the numbers listed out, I urge all Malaysians to join me in analyzing the situation further.

Car taxation is Government's profit, fuel sales is Petronas' (GLC) profit which also translates into Government's profit. The Government may ridicule us Malaysians by saying look at the world market and fuel price world wide. Please, we are Malaysians, we fought off the British, had a international port in the early centuries (Malacca), built a home to a racially mixed nation and we are not stupid!!!

We know the international rates are above the USD 130/barrel. We understand the fact that the fuel prices are increasing worldwide and we also know that major scientists are still contradicting one another on why this phenomenon is happening. Some blame Bush and his plunders around the world and some blame climate change and there are others who say petroleum sources are getting scarce.

Again we go back to numbers to be more straight forward.

1 barrel = 159 litres x RM2.70/litre = RM429 or USD134

On one hand, we are paying the full cost of one barrel of crude oil with RM2.70 per litre but on the other hand the crude oil only produces 46% of fuel.

Malaysia sells crude oil per barrel at USD130 and buys back fuel per barrel at USD134. And not forgetting, every barrel of fuel is produced with two barrels of crude oil. 1 barrel crude oil = produce 46% fuel (or half of crude oil), therefore 2 barrel crude oil = approximately 1 barrel fuel. In other words, each time we sell 2 barrels of crude oil, equivalently we will buy back 1 barrel of fuel.

Financially, Malaysia sell 2 barrels of crude oil @ USD130/barrel = USD260 = RM858 then, Malaysia will buy back fuel @ USD134/barrel = RM442/barrel. Thus, Malaysia earn net extra USD126 = RM416 for each 2 barrels of crude sold/exported vs imported 1 barrel of fuel!!! (USD 260-134 = USD 126 = RM416).

So, where is the extra USD126/barrel income being channeled to by the Malaysian Government?

Another analysis:

1 barrel crude oil = 159 litres.
46-47% of a barrel of crude oil = fuel that we use in our vehicles
46% of 159 = 73.14 litres
RM 2.70/litre x 73.14 litres = RM197.48 of fuel per barrel of crude oil

This is only 46% of the barrel, mind you. Using RM3.30 = USD1, we get that a barrel of crude oil produces USD59.84 worth of petrol fuel (46% of a barrel). USD59.84 of USD130/barrel turns out to be 46% of a barrel as well.

Another 54% consists of bitumen, kerosene, and natural gases and others. This makes a balance of USD 70.16 that has not been accounted for.

Where is the subsidy if we are paying 46% of the price of a barrel of crude oil when the production of petrol/barrel of crude oil is still only 46%?

In fact, we still pay for this as they are charged in the forms of fuel surcharge by airlines and road taxes for the building of roads (because they use the tar/bitumen) and many more but let us just leave all that out of our calculations.

As far as I know, only the politicians who live in Putrajaya and attend their Parliament meetings in Kuala Lumpur (approximately 60km+) are the ones to gain as they claim their fuel and toll charges from the taxpayers' money.

It is so disappointing to see this happen time and time again to the Malaysian public, where they are deceived by the propaganda held by the politicians and the controls they have over the press.

Which stupid idiot economist equates rebates for rich or poor with the engine capacity of the vehicles? An average office clerk may own a second hand 1300cc Proton Iswara costing RM7,000 (rebate = RM625) while a Datuk's children can own a fleet of 10 new BMW, Audi and Volvo cars all less than 2000cc but costing RM2 millions and getting a total rebate of RM625 x 10 = RM6,250!

Misleading concept of subsidy:

The word "subsidy" has been brandished by the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government as if it has so generously helped the rakyat and in doing so incurred losses. This simple example will help to explain the fallacy:

Example:

Ahmad is a fisherman. He sells a fish to you at $10 which is below the market value of $15. Let's assume that he caught the fish from the abundance of the sea at little or no cost. Ahmad claims that since the market value of the fish is $15 and he sold you the fish for $10, he had subsidised you $5 and therefore made a loss of $5.

Question: Did Ahmad actually make a profit of $10 or loss of $5 which he claimed is the subsidy?
Answer: Ahmad makes a profit of $10 which is the difference of the selling price ($10) minus the cost price ($0 since the fish was caught from the abundance of the sea). There is no subsidy as claimed by Ahmad.

The BN Government claims that it is a subsidy because the oil is kept and treated as somebody else's property (you know who). By right, the oil belongs to all citizens of the country and the Government is a trustee for the citizens. So as in the above simple example, the BN Government cannot claim that it has subsidised the citizens!
---end---

Technorati Tags: fuel price, malaysia, fuel hike, petrol price, petrol subsidy, petrol rebate, malaysia economics, road tax, road toll, crude oil

PPCP Online Experience Update & Closure

For those who have read my previous post on the customer service experience from PPCP Online, here is an update and closure on the matter.

About a week after I raised my opinion on the experience, one of the owners, Nat, of the online store called me again. He repeatedly apologized on behalf of the store for the inconvenience caused to me, and positively arranged for the replacement unit of the Stetige tripod to be personally delivered to me.

He also explained that there was a lack of units during the Chinese festive season earlier and was not able to respond to my needs in time. I told him that the least they could have done was to tell me the truth in a timely manner, so that I wouldn't have flared up.

True to Nat's word, the replacement unit was delivered on time. To my surprise, a small gift was included in the unit. The unit itself turned out to be in good condition and performed better than the first one.

In conclusion, I still believe in good customer service, whether online or in the Real World. Whether the customer is right does not matter, but communication and positive-thinking are more important. I do appreciate PPCP Online's effort and will consider to continue shopping there.

Technorati Tags: product review, customer service, stetige, tripod, ppcp online

Malaysia Government Cabinet Lineup 2008

In

1. Prime Minister - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
2. Deputy Prime Minister - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
3. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister - Mustapa Mohamed
   
4. Defence Minister - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
5. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister - Shahrir Samad
   
6. Education Minister - Hishammuddin Hussein
   
7. Energy, Water and Communications Minister - Shaziman Abu Mansor
8. Entrepreneurial and Cooperative Development Minister - Noh Omar
   
9. Federal Territories Minister - Zulhasnan Rafique
   
10. Finance Minister - Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
    
11. Finance Minister (2nd) - Nor Mohamed Yakcop
12. Finance Minister (Deputy) - Husni Hanadzlah (formerly International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister) and Kong Cho Ha (Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister)
    
13. Foreign Affairs Minister - Dr Rais Yatim (formerly Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister)
14. Health Minister - Liow Tiong Lai
15. Higher Education Minister - Khaled Nordin
16. Housing and Local Government Minister - Ong Ka Chuan
17. Human Resources Minister - Dr S Subramaniam
18. Information Minister - Ahmad Shabery Cheek
19. Internal Security and Home Affairs Minister - Syed Hamid Albar
20. International Trade and Industry Minister - Muhyiddin Yassin
21. International Trade and Industry Minister (Deputy) - Liew Vui Keong and Jacob Dungau
22. National Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister - Shafie Apdal
    
23. Natural Resources and Environment Minister - Douglas Unggah Embas
24. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister - Peter Chin Fah Kui
    
25. Rural and Regional Development Minister - Muhammad Muhammad Taib
26. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister - Dr Maximus Ongkili
    
27. Tourism Minister - Azalina Othman
28. Transport Minister - Ong Tee Keat (formerly Deputy Higher Education Minister)
29. Women, Family and Community Development Minister - Dr Ng Yen Yen
30. Works Minister - Mohd Zin Mohamad
31. Youth and Sports Minister - Ismail Sabri Yaacob
    

Out

Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz (formerly International Trade and Industry Minister)
Datuk Seri Radzi Sheik Ahmad (formerly Home Affairs Minister)
Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid (formerly Natural Resources and Innovation Minister)
Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis (formerly Science, Technology and Innovation Minister)
Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor (formerly Tourism Minister)
Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting (formerly Housing and Local Government Minister)
Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn (formerly Human Resources Minister)

Total number of Ministers: 27 (from 32)

Technorati Tags: malaysia, government, cabinet, politics, minister, lineup

PPCP Online Pathetic Customer Service - DO NOT BUY

I ordered a Stetige tripod from www.perfectpixelcameraparts.com on 29 January 2008. It was delivered quickly, just one or two days later.

However, the unit that I started using broke down after a few days of use. When I pulled open the legs, one of the legs' locking bracket broke apart and became loose. As a result, this leg was unable to open to the fixed position anymore.

I started contact the store on 9 February 2008 to ask for a replacement unit. Jeremy Tan from the store confirmed that once the Chinese New Year period was over and new stock arrived, he would deliver the replacement.

On 19 February 2008, I wrote to orders@perfectpixelcameraparts.com and info@perfectpixelcameraparts.com to request for an update since I had not heard from them since early February. Jeremy said he would contact me again within a week.

Up till 7 March 2008, I have not heard from Jeremy anymore. It has been more than a month since I last used the tripod and I have not been able to get a replacement unit.

I seriously do not recommend PCCP Online as a retail merchant because:

1. contacting and communicating with them is difficult
2. do not honor dates
3. poor order fulfillment and defects replacement

Nat and Jeremy Tan from www.perfectpixelcameraparts.com are not retail people that you want to spend your money on. They are unreliable and slow. Do not buy anything from their store unless you want to suffer high risk of customer dissatisfaction when your order breaks.

Bear in mind, I still have faith in the quality of the product, but it is the utter failure of customer service that the store shows.

Save time and money and avoid buying anything from PPCP Online, www.perfectpixelcameraparts.com.

Technorati Tags: product review, customer service, stetige, tripod, ppcp online, bad review, poor customer service

Google Adsense Referral Ad Changes

On Tuesday, Talia Brodecki from Google Adsense Product Marketing, announced that two impending changes to Google Adsense Referral ads. If you, as the publisher, live in North America, Latin America, or Japan, there will be no more sign-up bonus and less earnings for referring a user to Adsense. Check out the link above for more explanation.

The second and more relevant change to me is that publishers outside of the three regions listed above, you will not be able to promote Adsense as referrals. When this change takes effect at the end of January, you may still continue to promote referrals for other products listed in your account under "Adsense Setup" -> "Get Ads" -> "Referrals" (see below).

I have been showing referral ads for third-party advertisers using this sort of Adsense ads, and I have to admit they have not been successful at all. Perhaps the conversion criteria of advertisers have never been met as they usually require the visitor to purchase products or signup for services. Thus, I prefer to show Google-related referrals, such as Adsense, AdWords, Google Pack, and Firefox plug Google Toolbar, because their conversion is more attractive and their target audience is more global.

Getting visitors to switch web browsers from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox is the most satisfying because I've been a strong advocate of Firefox. If you're not on Firefox, you're missing out on the superior page rendering and extensive functionalities of this open-source browser. Click on the link on the right to download Firefox!

Back to Adsense referrals, unless you have a blog topic related to helping publishers monetizing their sites, I'd recommend you avoid promoting such referrals at all. Google Pack is a good choice as the software pack is very useful for common Internet users.

Technorati Tags: google, google adsense, advertisement, referral, referral ad, adsense referral, make money

Made Three-Figure Income with Google Adsense

After a long time of waiting for my Google Adsense publisher earnings to accumulate, I've finally received my first payment from Google via Western Union Quick Cash method. The feeling of getting paid a three-figure for publishing online ads is satisfying and honorable. It's not often that I get noticed by a billion-dollar company once in a while. :)

For most of us publishers residing in Asia where Western Union remittance is common, I'd recommend using Western Union Quick Cash to get paid easily. In your Google Adsense account, go to "My Account" -> "Account Settings" -> "Payment Details", select "Setup Western Union Quick Cash" and follow the wizard.

If you have set for payment to be released (under "My Account" -> "Payment History"), your earnings will be sent to you by the end of the month after your account balance reaches your payment threshold (usually US$50). I saw that mine was issued on 24 December 2007, but I didn't realize until I checked the page a week later. Somehow, Google Adsense did not notify me by e-mail, which I expected.

You will be able to see the payment details in this page, such as the payment date, money transfer control number (MTCN), and payment amount. Print out a statement of these details by clicking on the link at the bottom "Statement of Earnings". Go to your nearest Western Union branch with these details and a government/state issued identity document. Fill up the Western Union Money Transfer "To receive money" form, where you will need to use the printed statement for the sender (Google) details such as its address and MTCN.



Here is the form from CIMB Bank Malaysia which has Western Union services in most, if not all, branches. CIMB is, like most other banks in Malaysia, horrendously slow. I had to wait more than an hour with four customers ahead of me.

Western Union and the bank takes a cut of about 0.9%, according to the prevailing US currency exchange rate. They pay cash in local currency.

Some of you may ask, what are my tips for making money using Google Adsense. I'll share three tips here.

1. Build a good source of content that is fresh, relevant, and pleasantly-presented. Remember that ads are meant to help lead visitors to useful products and services which will make the experience of going to your site more valuable.
2. Optimize the context and placement of the ads (e.g. using "google_ad_section" tags), check out Google Adsense Help for more information on how. Large rectangles, vertical banners and link units are the best, YMMV.
3. Make use of channels to help monitor the performance of different types of ads (according to site, format, placement, etc.) so that you can take action as per tip #2.

I've yet to see my earnings payment from Nuffnang Malaysia, but meanwhile if you have a good experience with Google Adsense or more tips on using Google Adsense, share them here by adding a comment.

Technorati Tags: google, google adsense, make money, earnings payment, western union, quick cash, money transfer control number, cimb bank, ad earnings