Tablet PC the way to Go?

Feeling like it is year-end holiday yet? Teachers and students would surely say yes.

It is December and people would now be busy preparing for a brand new year. This is also the time when most of us would be shopping for presents for our loved ones or for self reward after a job well done this year.

I don't actually consider myself tech savvy but I like browsing through the latest gadgets, not that I'm obsessed with wanting to buying every new gadget the market has to offer. This year we saw fierce competition among electronic giants like Samsung, Apple, HTC, to name a few. Samsung's Galaxy has been on the helm of the smartphone throne for sometime until iPhone 4S came along. At this juncture, there is no official statistics yet to compare the two most sought after smartphone brands.

Smartphones have clearly gained exponential momentum the last year or two but I believe the next big thing is Tablet PC. This is evident from the popularity and availability of tablets at almost every establish phone or IT premises. In and around Kota Kinabalu, dedicated Tablet PC store is not common yet due to the product mix in the shop inventory but I can assure you that any established store carries at least the major tablet PC brands such as iPad, Galaxy Tab, HP Touchpad, or Blackberry playbook.

So, if electronic gadgets are your present of choice this year, you would probably want to pay a visit to Karamunsing Complex in Kota Kinabalu, Low Yatt Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, or Sim Lim Square in Singapore.

Happy holiday!

Can you really go blind by staring at the Sun?

Let's start the week with a question. Can you really go blind by staring at the Sun?

Short answer: No.

Sunrise captured in Penampang, Sabah.

Long answer (I thought you'd love this): Yes, but....

It's possible, but the hazard is often exaggerated. Even at midday, a normal eye will only let in enough light to heat the retina by about 4°C. You need at least 10°C to cause thermal damage. Looking at the Sun during an eclipse for more than a minute can cause damage, because your pupils are more dilated, but it doesn’t result in total blindness and isn’t usually permanent. If the Sun is within 10 minutes of setting below a sea-level horizon, the more dangerous short-wavelength light is absorbed by the atmosphere and it should be quite safe to look at the Sun.

Source: sciencefocus.com

SESB Names New Boss

Kota Kinabalu: Ir. Abd Razak Salim has been named the new SESB Managing Director - the first Sabahan to assume the post since the privatisation of the State's utility agency on Sept 1, 1988.

Abd Razak, 53, who was SESB Senior General Manager takes over from Datuk Ir. Baharin Din effective Dec 1, 2011. An electrical engineer by training, Abd Razak rose through the ranks after starting his career with the Sabah Electricity Board in 1986.

Baharin would be returning to TNB in Kuala Lumpur. During Baharin's tenure, SESB managed to lower Sabah's System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) from 2,717 minutes (average per consumer) in 2007 to 687 minutes in 2010.
Source: Daily Express, 1/12/2011.

Big congrats to Ir. Abd Razak. I've attended some of SESB events where he is a speaker and he is a person who is easy to understand and he cuts down on the un-necessaries.

I have no particular preference for who heads the utility company although common sense would tell you a Sabahan should head a Sabah State Federal agency. In this case, TNB, a GLC under the federal administration. But being someone who hails from the place he is currently serving, it is the least to hope that Ir. Abd Razak would better understand the sentiment of the people and the ultimate goal of 100% power supply coverage in Sabah by 2012.

Ir. Baharin managed to lower the interruption index from more than 2,700 to just slightly more than 680 minutes last year. Ir Abd razak should have his sight on the 70-minute mark set by some states in West Malaysia. As a benchmark Singapore recorded 2-minutes interruption index (SAIDI) a couple of years back. Refer here, and scroll to page 19.

100% coverage and 70-minute interruption index.

Which should be SESB's priority? As a person residing in the interior, I would say go for 100% coverage, but I live in Kota Kinabalu and I'm also entitled to my rights to stable, interruption-free power supply. It is always a question of quantity or quality.

Do you know that to a kampung folk, a power supply is all that is needed no matter how it is generated - gasoline generator, small turbine, diesel powered, coal fired plant, hybrid solar PV, you name it. Whether the supply is stable or flickery, is secondary. They just need the donkey power.

To the urbanites, sorry but we have different priorities. And by urbanites, I mean the leaders who sit comfortably in their air-conditioned office.

So, we shall leave it to the new MD's wisdom to muster his way and negotiate with the state government to come to a compromise, preferably killing the two birds with one stone - quality quantity.

Best wishes to the new head, and hoping for the best for a solution to Sabah's power supply issues.