Maxis: No service during power outages

It's not fair!

I could come up with lesser than decent comment but I would settle for that for the time being.

Quality of service in the area where I reside (Penampang) is just poor. Every time there's power failure, the internet and telecommunication services would be interrupted, leading me to believe that Maxis does not have standby power for the anticipated power outages. Frequent power disruption on the part of SESB should not translate into similarly poor performance by Maxis.


                                     Screenshot 1


                                     Screenshot 2


                                     Screenshot 3


Power supply failure would quickly be followed by interruption of 3G service (Screenshot 3), and if the power outage prolong, the wireless communication would completely stop (Screenshot 1 and 2).

Maxis should at least provide bigger energy storage (battery) to keep the services going at reduced mode. There's no point shouting about installing more 4G LTE stations if they become dis-functional during power failures!


Note: The other mobile phone which is on Celcom does not seem to be much affected.

How do plants grow towards the light?

You've learnt about this in your science subject during secondary/high school.

It's interesting and I bet it still is. Why would the upshot of a tree grow towards the light and not elsewhere? Sciencefocus has a simple way of explaining it.

                          A weed in our unkempt flower vase

Plant cells contain a protein called phototropin that is mostly concentrated in the growing tip of the plant shoot. This protein unfolds into an activated state when it absorbs blue wavelengths of light.

This sets off a cascade of interactions between different proteins in the cells, which ultimately changes the alignment of cellular scaffolding proteins, called microtubules.

The upshot of this is that the cells on the darker side of the shoot elongate, while those on the light side remain squat and boxy. As the dark side of the plant grows longer, the shoot as a whole bends away from that side and towards the light.

Recent research at the Carnegie Institution at Stanford University, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands, found that the rearrangement of the microtubules can happen surprisingly quickly. Within minutes of exposure to blue light, plant cells will start making new microtubules.


Source: Sciencefocus

SEDA Malaysia announced new degression and bonus rates for Biomass, Biogas and Solar PV

During the 2nd International Sustainable Energy Summit (ISES) 2014 last week, SEDA Malaysia was expected to announce the renewable energy (RE) quota for this year.

It was deferred, but there was an equally interesting announcement, which touches on the new rates of bonus and degression for three RE sources - Biomass, Biogas and Solar PV. This is to encourage take-up rate of biomass and biogas which has seen slow response.


Table1: Biogas and Biomass, effective January 1, 2014



Table 2: Solar PV effective March 15, 2014



Key changes: Biomass and Biogas

• Degression rates for both biomass and biogas have been reduced from 0.5% to 0%
• Increase of bonus rate for use of locally manufactured or assembled gas engine technology (biogas) and use of locally manufactured or assembled boiler or gasifier (biomass) from RM0.01 per kWh to RM0.05 per kWh for both technologies. 

Note: These new degression and bonus rates are effective from 1st January 2014.


Key changes: Solar Photovoltaic (PV)

• Degression rates adjusted to 10% across the entire Schedule, except for the bonus criteria of locally manufactured or assembled solar PV modules and solar inverters. 
• For the two bonus criteria, degression rates are retained at 0% and their bonus rates adjusted from RM0.03 per kWh (solar PV modules) and RM0.01 per kWh (solar inverters) to RM0.05 per kWh for each of them. 

Note: The new degression and bonus rates for solar PV are effective from 15th March 2014.


For complete reading of the press release, visit here.