Sepanggar Bay naval base open day

So, all this while you've been looking down at the naval base from afar and wondering how would it feel to be on board a warship.

Your wait is over. This weekend you have the opportunity to visit one of the regional naval bases which would be open to the public for 3 days. The timing is right, as I believe the patriotic spirit among the people should be at its peak now considering the terrorist intrusion in Lahad Datu.

The announcement via RTM (Sabah FM) in brief:

Event                  : RMN Open Day
Date                    : 5th - 7th April 2013
Venue                 : Royal Malaysian Navy, RMN base in Sepanggar Bay

How to get there:
Free transportation via shuttle bus from three collection points - 1Borneo, Centre Point Sabah, and Indah Permai.
Activities:
Attractive activities such as display of our navy assets, kayaking and many other engaging games.

The naval base seen during our previous working visit

Sepanggar Bay is the location of one of the major naval bases of Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), apart from the ones in Lumut Perak, Tanjung Gelang Pahang, Langkawi Kedah, Tanjung Pengelih Johor, to name a few.

"This is how it works," an officer explaining the mechanism on board KD Kedah

As at end-2012, there are 6 vessels and 12 boats, including two submarines, that are operating at the naval base at Sepanggar Bay. Four of the vessels are on round-the-clock patrols of the coastal waters at any one time.

View from KD Kedah

Note: The prefix KD means Kapal Diraja, or Royal Ship.


Of interest would be the two Scorpene submarines, named after the country’s first and second prime ministers – KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak. The subs arrived in Sabah on September 17, 2009 and July 16, 2010, respectively. I do not have a pic of them during the visit as they were off limit.

Hopefully they will show these expensive divers this time around and make us proud.

Solar plane to fly coast to coast across US

This is the same Swiss solar-powered plane that made a daring voyage from Europe to Africa last year. The  aircraft takes off on 24 May 012 in Payerne and travel through Madrid , destined for Rabat in Morocco.

Powered by 11,628 solar cells on its back and with a wingspan of about equivalent to a Boeing 747, a solar-powered plane that has wowed people in Europe is now preparing to fly across the United States.

The Solar Impulse plane will take off on May 1, weather permitting, and will make stops in Phoenix, Dallas and Washington before arriving in New York in early July. Reuters photo.


ACROSS AMERICA MISSION 2013

(California-AFP) - The experimental Solar Impulse plane, which has made several trips since its maiden flight in 2009, will take off on May 1 on a transcontinental tour split in five stages.

"We are ready to do this flight across America," said Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg during a press conference at a hangar in Mountain View, near San Francisco.

Borschberg said the flight is being split into multiple stages for security reasons, emphasising nevertheless that the single-seat aircraft was technically capable of flying non-stop across the United States.

A non-stop flight would take approximately three days travelling at the aircraft's cruising speed of around 43 miles (70 kilometers) per hour.

"We have limited ourselves to fly a duration maximum of 24 hours," said Borschberg, who will share the piloting duties with Solar Impulse president Bertrand Piccard.

The plane will spend up to 10 days at each stop on its journey in order to showcase its technology to the public, schoolchildren and students who will also have a chance to talk with the pilots.

"The people will be able to follow the mission, to speak to the pilot, to ask questions. We would like to inspire students, schoolchildren, inspire as many people as possible to try to have the spirit to dare, to innovate, to invent." Piccard said.

Borschberg and Piccard are planning an around-the-world flight of the plane in 2015. - Copyright (AFP RELAXNEWS), 2013.


TheGreenMechanics: If this solar-powered plane make a trip to Malaysia, I would definitely set aside some time off and make the tour to see it for myself.

For the rest of us who don’t live in the United States, we can still 'watch' the feat as it will be filmed and streamed LIVE on Solar Impulse's website with important news posted on Facebook.

Apple launching iPhone 5S and another cheaper model: Report

Consumers will get to lay their hands on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 anytime now. Specs-wise, I must admit it is very impressive and I might be tempted to change side. Maybe.

In a bid to increase the company's market share and to catch up with Android-based mobile phone sales, Apple is said to be launching 2 new models of its flagship iPhone, one of which is dubbed iPhone 5S.

Apple is set to launch its next flagship smartphone this summer: Wall Street Journal

As at end-February 2013, Android-based phones dominates the market with more than half of the share, at least in the US:

Android smartphone sales  : 51.2%
Apple iPhone                    : 43.5%
Windows phones              : 4.1%
BlackBerry                       : 0.7%


Apple launching two iPhones this summer

A report in the Wall Street Journal claims that production of the next iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 5S, has already begun in time for its official unveiling this summer and that it will be joined by a cheaper version of the smartphone in order to increase the company's existing market share.

Rumours about both devices have been flying around since the end of 2012. However, when something appears in the Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg, it is taken seriously because, as well as a reputation for secrecy, Apple also has a reputation for 'leaking' stories to those two papers.

Unsurprisingly, unnamed sources reported in the article appear to confirm stories that first started circulating at the beginning of 2013 that suggested the next iPhone would simply be an incremental update of the existing flagship, but that it would be joined by a cheaper model - likened in appearance to an iPod Classic - aimed at emerging markets where Apple's premium price is still a hurdle to growing market share.

News that the next handset will be an incremental improvement will no doubt disappoint any number of analysts and investors who have been calling for the company to innovate for the past 12 months and in the process have driven the company's share price down by more than 50%. In particular, Forrester CEO George Colony will feel very let down.

Despite admitting that he knows very little about the technological mastery involved in achieving such a goal, he took to his Counterintuitive CEO blog this week and, within a post entitled "Apple's Foldable Future," called on Apple to make a seamless folding iPhone that opened out into a paper-thin widescreen tablet and that had a full-body screen without a bezel. - ©AFP/Relaxnews 2013

Source: TechCentral


TheGreenMechanics: More choices for consumers and hopefully cheaper, too.