Tag Archives: Internet

Real Mission to Mars

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In case you have missed this important event last week…

(Photo note: An image taken by the Mars rover Opportunity, shown by NASA during a press conference Thursday, Oct 7, 2004, shows a bizarre, lumpy rock informally named Wopmay on the lower slopes of Endurance Crater. Scientists believe the lumps in Wopmay were formed by one of two processes. Either they were caused by the impact that created the football field-sized crater, or they arose when water soaking the rock dried up, said the scientists)

(Photo note: The Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), a camera on board the Curiosity designed to take photos during the descent to Mars, took this image of the heat shield plummeting to the Martian surface)

(Photo note: A close-up of one of the rover’s wheels. Curiosity is currently driving around the Gale Crater, a place NASA scientists believe could harbor signs of microbial life, from the past or present)

(All text and images sources and for more images, click here and here. Copyright NASA)

NASA successfully landed the latest of its Mars Rover called Curiosity in Mars last week. With this, they have 3 rovers (Spirit and Opportunity which landed back in 2004) on the planet exploring the surface and geology. The mission’s scientific objective was to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars.

The much-celebrated Mars rover Curiosity is headed for Mount Sharp, where it will help scientists explore the question of life on Mars as it climbs up and up. Meanwhile, however, NASA’s budget for planetary exploration is slated to go down, down, down.

Scientists are basking in the success of Curiosity’s stunning landing earlier this week, proving that a complicated system involving a parachute and a sky crane can safely deliver a 2,000-pound vehicle to Mars. The $2.6 billion Curiosity will spend years roaming the planet, snapping photos and gathering scientific data.

Given the budget constraints facing the space agency, however, there are limits on what the rover, and NASA, will be able to do on the surface of the Red Planet. Although astronauts brought back thousands of moon rocks during the Apollo Mission, there’s never been a sample of Martian material returned to Earth. Such a mission is considered a priority, so scientists can do more detailed chemical analyses.

(Source)

After the Moon, we have been eyeing Mars as the next frontier and a place where humans may be able to adapt as their next home. Who knows what lays thereafter – new mining colonies perhaps or as a “jumping stone” to explore other planets? And inspire future generation of space explorers and scientists to think beyond and ahead. And with 2 rovers on the planet, why we need another rover on the planet?

From Associated Press:-

NASA’s new robot rover named Curiosity landed safely early Monday in a huge crater near the equator of Mars and will soon begin its scientific studies. This marks NASA’s seventh landing on the red planet and is its 19th Mars mission, including those by orbiters and other spacecraft.

Why Mars Again?

The big unknown remains. Scientists want to know if any form of life ever existed there, and that means microscopic organisms. Curiosity is the most ambitious effort ever to burrow into that question, though it is not equipped to look for actual microbes. During its two-year exploration, it will try to answer whether the giant crater had the right conditions to support that type of life.

What will Curiosity do?

Curiosity carries a toolbox of 10 instruments, including a rock-zapping laser and a mobile organic chemistry lab. It also has a long robotic arm that can jackhammer into rocks and soil. It will hunt for the basic ingredients of life, including carbon-based compounds, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen, as well as minerals that might provide clues about possible energy sources.

And talking about the mission to Mars, if you recalled in 2010, President Obama talked about a manned mission to Mars by year 2030 whilst at the same time, cancelled the project to return to the Moon citing that the project was too costly, “behind schedule, and lacking in innovation”. With the latest successful landing of the Curiosity Rover, it will be interest how this mission to take man to the Red Planet going to take place in the next few years. It is also going to be very interesting how we are going to push the current innovation to make space exploration cheaper, safer and longer lasting.

(Our very own Planetarium Space Theater – it is a good platform to generate keen deep interest on space exploration and science. The other is the Langkawi National Observatory which has good stellar and solar telescopes. Image source: National Planetarium)

Looking back at Malaysia, no doubt we started with the wrong foot with teaching of Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia instead of the more “universal” language of English (we still have a chance to correct this mistake) but it is good that we have also started to expose Malaysians (especially the young ones) on the science of astronomy, mechanical, robotics, computing and others that is crucial for future space explorations. The sight on a greater exploration of the space should be there for all and we should start with the right language of science and mathematics.

P.s. Have a nice weekend and happy holidays to all. Hope that you will miss the madness at the highway and arrive safely at your destination.

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Stop Section 114A!

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Update 2: theStar reports – The Cabinet is carefully studying Section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950 in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s directive, after it became a much discussed matter in cyberspace. Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said Wednesday the Government held a firm stand on the matter but so far, there were no plans to make new amendments to the Act.

If I were you, I would not lose my breath over this “Cabinet carefully studying…after Najib’s directive”. Now they have the edge (after all, the Act have been passed by the Parliament), you think they going to let go just like that?

Update 1: I do not know who this Fatimah Zuhri is (a BN cyber trooper?) but running through her “arguments” in support for Section 114A, it is clear she is missing a point in her support for Section 114A (no doubt the amendments have its merits as highlighted by her). The point that she missed is on the burden of proof shifting to the accused. She says that yes, the accused is now guilty until proven innocent but then goes on to say that if one is innocent, then it is easy to prove it so.

This argument is seriously flawed as 1. under our legal system, one always presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, so why the sudden shift then? Will the resources be made available by the authorities for the accused to prove the innocence? and 2. she is talking about proving your innocence using IP & MAC address – is she a computer expert on cyber crime or she is just a casual PC user who knows nothing more than using some easy Microsoft programs and surf the net.

Look at the comments by one Ah Beng under her post and you will realised that proving your innocence using IPs & MAC Addresses may be futile if the real perpetrators are experts in covering their tracks (there are plenty of tools on the net just for that) and since you are presumed guilty until proven innocent, you are screwed. There seems to be a clear loophole on the horizon (since it does not stop anyone who is not happy with what has been written online from hiring certain experts to hack and create trouble for the writers under Section 114A) and that should not be the case.

Back to the original post

Read these first:-

They have been trying to censor the internet for ages now but so far their attempts have whacked them back on their face. This seems to be the latest of their attempt to censor what is said & discussed on the net but this time around, it is coming through the “back door” via the Evidence Act 1950

From Stop114A:-

How does Section 114A affect you?

Titled “Presumption of Fact in Publication”, Section 114A holds the following people accountable for publishing content online:

(1) those who own, administrate, or edit websites open to public contributors, such as online forums or blogs;

(2) those who provide webhosting services or Internet access; and

(3) those own the computer or mobile device used to publish content online.

In other words, if allegedly defamatory content is traced back to your username, electronic device, and/or WiFi network, Section 114A presumes you are guilty of publishing illicit content on the Internet.

But what if you were the victim of identity theft and a hacker wrongfully used your Twitter or Facebook account to post defamatory content?

Under Section 114A, you are still considered guilty until proven innocent.

What is wrong with Section 114A?

Section 114A is problematic for a number of reasons:

i) It disproportionately burdens average Internet users who are wrongfully accused of publishing seditious or defamatory content.

ii) It makes Internet intermediaries–parties that provide online community forums, blogging and hosting services–liable for content that is published through their services.

iii) It allows hackers and cyber criminals to be free by making the person whose account/computer is hacked liable for any content/data which might have changed.

iv) It is a bad law passed in haste and does not take into account public interest and participation.

Click the image below for more details:-

(All images sources: http://stop114a.wordpress.com/)

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Steve Jobs: 1955 – 2011

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(We may not own an iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMac or download from iTunes but in one way or another, the way we use technology and some of our personal gadgets these days have greatly influenced by Steve Jobs ideas, innovation and footprint for better user friendly and usability designs. Image source: Wikipedia)

Click these posts from Fast Company for interesting insights on Steve Jobs:-

What Can Steve Jobs Still Teach Us?

What Made Steve Jobs So Great?

Learn Steve Jobs Presentation Skills

Nokia N8 Firmware Update Part 2

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Read Part 1 here

(I love the smell of napalm…err…software updates in the morning. Image source: http://noknok.tv)

I thought it was the long overdue PR1.2 update but the device updates screen shows the release type as “Symbian Anna” (now I believe that PR1.2 was never released in Malaysia). It took less than 30 minutes for the latest updates for my N8 from Nokia servers – it was clean and smooth.

The updates contains among other things:-

  • Fresher, renewed look with new icons and wallpapers, and split screen view for Messaging, Mail, Browser, Phone book, Calendar, and Maps
  • Improved full QWERTY virtual keypad with split screen view and faster access to special characters
  • New, faster and easier-to-use browser, with new search features, and most used features available with one tap
  • New Maps version, with improved search, a public transport network view, and a new Check-in feature for sharing info about places through social networking services
  • Improved calendar, enabling you to create and accept meeting invitations through Mail
  • Microsoft Communicator Mobile available
  • Improved information and communication security
  • New versions of Ovi Store and QuickOffice
  • Performance and usability improvements

Other Software Updates

  • Flashlite 4
  • Java Runtime 2.2
  • Qt Mobility 1.1
  • Qt4.7

(Source)

For a more complete change log, click here for details

However, the latest updates is not really noticeable until it is time for you to type on a number or message – the QWERTY feature in portrait mode is really helpful (although sometimes the keypad seems too small but there is an option to switch off QWERTY function off) and when I start typing to call, the address book comes in other top side of the screen for an easy pick (it was not that easy under PR1.1). The Communicator function now is on display on home page but I have not played with the settings yet. The camera’s auto focus seems working better now.

Nokia has chosen to use Windows Phone as its primary OS for its future smartphones so I do hope that we were still get updates for the Symbian^3 OS in terms of new functions, performance and security.

Read Also

Top 5 changes Symbian Anna brings to Nokia N8

Con Jobs

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(Ya, it is just a joke but the reality of things is conman can come in many forms and can strike when you least expected. Image source: http://punditkitchen.wordpress.com)

Seriously, reading the daily newspaper can be a frightening thing early in the morning these days!

Just read some of these stories:-

A woman who fell for a con artist’s sob stories on Facebook ended up being cheated of RM1.1mil (source)

And

A syndicate has cheated several companies of millions by placing orders using post-dated cheques and then disappearing with the goods. The cheques, meanwhile, are not honoured (source)

And

A woman is claiming that she was cheated of RM13,000 by a policeman who promised to secure bail for the release of her two sons, detained for alleged involvement in motorcycle theft. (source)

In the past, in addition to the abuse of tax-payers money by the locals, such con jobs are usually confined to emails from daughters or widows of a purported dictator or some politicians who had died leaving millions in the bank and with “sincere” request for a small fee to get the money out. Reward for this small help can be indeed very rewarding – millions dollars to be shared. Read:-

Ya, I even got an email from the FBI

Perhaps some stories can be too convincing indeed but on the other hand, the question also arises on whether we have been closing one eye to the influx of conmen and criminals into this country?

In the case of the woman who lost RM1.1 million to the conmen, the police acted fast and managed to arrest 2 Nigerians, 2 Bangladeshis and undisclosed number of locals. There was no surprise to note that there were Nigerians involved in this scheme. The Africans masquerading as students has been let loose in this country for a very long time now and you sometimes wonder how these students from poor impoverished countries who at times can’t even speak proper English can be driving luxury cars couple of months after they had arrived here.

The number of the Africans near my housing areas has been steady growing – perhaps they are indeed students but at times, they do show their ugly side of their character.

Then I read this in Malaysiakini which was another surprise:-

Malaysia has begun taking fingerprints from foreigners entering the country in a bid to prevent illegal immigrants coming in using fake papers, an official said today.

After the famed 9-11 tragedy, many governments around the world talked about implementing biometrics validation as another mean to nab known terrorists before they could do something sinister. Malaysia on the other hand probably felt that it is not necessary to the same considering we are in the safe part of the world. But all the while, we have been having problem with illegal immigrants. But why we did not start fingerprinting back then? Whilst we tried other means of enforcement like securing our borders, we never added fingerprinting as part of the arsenal against foreign criminals and terrorists.

However, it is better now than too late even though fingerprinting is only going to run on trial basis. NST quoted the Immigration Department Director General saying that 3% of the 24.4 million foreigners who visited the country in 2010 had been involved in various crimes. I wonder how many of them, the so-called students from the sub continent of Africa.

This measure will not however stop foreigners from committing crimes – we need to buck up on all other measures as well like better policing, better surveillances and investigations, better education and strict banking policies but perhaps we should be more diligent as well. It may sound unfortunate but when it come to dealing with foreigners and money, we may put on the distrust hat and triple check the “way too convincing” stories which if not checked, could make us lose millions. It is ok to be paranoia because this is how the world has come to be.

After all, we are closer to the end of the world…

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