Boon's Basement

Found in the wild – Fake intel Processors!

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:11:43 +0000

Counterfeiting has been a lucrative business that has affected many industries worldwide. Copying and reproducing the design of famous brands and products have allowed many of these “pirates” reap billions of dollars in profit and cause billions of dollars in loss for the owners of these brands. The latest fiasco of counterfeiting or fake does not come from the fashion industry but is from the semiconductor business. Recently, there have been cases where customers who ordered Intel processors from Newegg received fake processors instead of the real deal. Newegg has issued a statement claiming innocence and blamed its supplier for the “fatal error”. Whatever the case may be, I suspect that the country that has been involved in fake eggs and tainted milk is once again shown the world that no matter how much money it may seem to have, it is far from overtaking the United States as a economy super house with incidents such as this.

-image from www.gearlog.com

Full story on the unboxing of a fake intel processor at gearlog.com here.

Dude, you hit my car and now you hit me???

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:19:56 +0000

This is a video of road rage in Malaysia. The incident happened during a late afternoon traffic rush at LDP (Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong), one of the busiest highway in the Klang Valley.

Yay or Nay to the iPhone 3Gs

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:09:41 +0000

In my recent snowboarding trip to Blue Mountain, I was able to conquer my fear and take on the double black diamond trails. Besides the good news, I did break my cellphone, a Nokia e66, a gift from my girlfriend. The damage happened at the parking lot of the ski lodge. As I was changing into my snowboarding gears at the parking lot, I dropped my phone on the ground which fell right in front of one the car wheels. Then, for some reason, I moved my car forward a little and as I walk towards the back of my car, I notice my cellphone flat on the snow. When I tried to make a phone call, all I get is a black screen with white lines.

I have been contemplating on buying the iPhone 3Gs. Despite being one of the hottest phone out there, the iPhone doesn’t offer me a true value for what its made off. First of all, the 16 GB and 32GB uncommitted phones are sold at $599 and $699 respectively. Second of all, since I am looking to buy an unlocked phone which means that I will not be getting a $30 per month data plan, I will be limited to using WiFi for my web surfing. It is really worth it to pay that much for a fancy looking phone that I will not be utilizing all the functions?

Dilemma, dilemma….

-Boon

Grandma, I love you!

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:45:04 +0000

Because of a snowstorm my office was closed and I was spared from the agony of work. I decided to call my grandmother to see how things are going on in Malaysia. As the conversation progressed from the usual “How are things?” “What about the weather” to “How’s your health”, I discovered something shocking and chilling. My grandmother blurted out that she has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. I felt chill running down my spine and tears started to fall down my cheeks. The only thing that ran through my mind was to advise her to get the tumor removed. I was balling and screaming at the phone because I was afraid of losing my one and only beloved “Ah Ma”. It seems that my grandmother had known about the tumor since last year but being the strong willed woman that she is, she kept it all to herself and didn’t tell her grandsons. She will continue to seek medical advice and treatment. I really pray that God will deliver her from harm and heal her body!
My grandmother, to me, is a woman who possesses characteristics that will make those of Lady Diana and Mother Theressa seem small. My grandmother, Low Anai, is kind, strong, honest, cheerful and friendly. Growing up in a family where the daughters were not sent beyond primary school, she married my grandfather at the age of 17. Going through a semi broken marriage because of my grandfather’s infidelity, my grandmother strove on to bring up her four children. I am very lucky because after my parents separation, my grandmother took care of me. For whatever reason, my dad was relinquished of his responsibilities as a father and a husband after his separation from my mom.
I feel a deep conviction in my heart to take care of my grandma in whatever ways that I can. Let it be money, moral or physical work. Throw them at me and I will be more than willing to endure them for my grandmother.

My grandmother is truly one of a kind and I would like to mention that the greatest love is a mother’s love. Some may argue that Jesus displayed the greatest love but remember one thing, try carrying someone in the womb for nine months and then having to go through labour to let you taste your first breath. Pretty powerful thought eh?

Let me end with the song Mama by Spice Girls.
P.s. For those who believe in the power of prayer, please pray for my grandmother. Thank you.

-Boon

Guess Who’s Back?

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:21:29 +0000

After a long hiatus, I am finally back. I don’t know what compelled me to start writing again. Maybe it was the Hong Kong drama, Born Rich, that I have been watching these few days, or the blogs such as sweatlee.com or fourfeetnine.com that I have stumbled upon while Googling some songs. Whatever the case, I feel that I should make full use of myself and what better way to do so that by pressing the “reset button” on my blog and starting to write again.

Today is the 9th day of Chinese New Year and my mind wandered of to a land far far away. It is 1.04am EST as I lie on my bed. After 8 years being in New York city, I have learned and grew so much from all the things that I have gone through. I am very thankful for friends and family members who have been influential and motivating. Despite all the successes and failures I accumulated over the years, I still feel that I am underachieving in my life. Underachieving in a sense where I know that I can achieve bigger and better things but the question of achieving “bigger and better things” at what, where, when and how, remain to be answered.

At times, I would pray to God for guidance but to no avail, guidance does not see to reveal itself to me. I am still struggling to find what I am truly good at and how to capitalize on it. Maybe I am thinking too much. I want to do something that I truly enjoy and be happy doing it while making money of course.

It is getting late, so let me end this post by saying, ” I want to make it big in life. Question is, how do one define making it big in life?”

Here’s a song that I am listening to:
Owl City – Fireflies

Happy Thanksgiving!

admin — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:56:28 +0000

Greetings everyone, it has been a while since I last posted. I have been bogged up with work and some things beside that. Once the dust settles, I will definitely give a big update. Today is Thanksgiving Day, where Americans celebrate the tradition set foot by the pilgrims almost two centuries ago. I would like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy and joyous Thanksgiving!

To end my post, here is a song by Boys Like Girls -Love Drunk

How would you like to share an apartment with 18 other people?

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:43:43 +0000

Real estate has skyrocketed in Hong Kong for the past decade because of the increasing demand and limited land for development. Average citizens of Hong Kong typically devote roughly 50% of their paycheck to pay their rent. Most of them live in high rises apartments, which may cost roughly $600,000 in areas that are close to the city center. CNN has an interesting article about “cage housing”, a 625 sq ft apartment shared by 18 other people. Each “cage” provides enough space for a bed, a small tv and some storage space for the tenants. The tenants share the kitchen and two bathrooms. The apartment owner collects about $2,500 (HK$19,375) from all the tenants. The sleeping spaces are stacked on top one another and rent for the top space goes for $100 while rent for the lower deck goes for $150 because you have standing room below. The economic crisis has caused an influx of people who have no choice but to live in these cage houses. Otherwise, they would probably end up living on the streets of Hong Kong.

-Boon

CNN Reports: Living in a cage in Hong Kong by Eunice Yoon

Living in a cage in Hong Kong

Foster USA commercials: How To Speak Australian

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:10:44 +0000

I’ve noticed the Foster Beer commercials running on TV and I have mixed feelings for them. The commercial runs on the central theme of “How to speak Australian” followed with a video containing a funny one liner such as “Man Purse” or “GPS”. Personally I find them quite funny but I wonder what do the average Aussie think of them?

Here are the commercials. Enjoy

Speak Australian – Foster.

1. Social Networking

2. Long Distance relationship

3. Bailout

4. GPS

5. Metrosexual

6. Man Purse

Love it, loathe it? Comments appreciated.

-Boon

Madventures: Not your average travel show

admin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:17:29 +0000

Samantha Brown’s travel show is pale compared to Madventures, Travel Channel’s latest adrenaline and no-nonsense infused travel show. The show features two Finnish, Riku and Tunna, who travels around the world in search of your not so typical adventure. The places they visited include the Naga village in the border of Myanmar and China, Chernobyl Power Plant in Russia, A monastery in Siberia and the deep Amazon forest in search of a hallucinogen called Yage Mado.

All videos are shot solely by Riku and Tunna where Riku is the show’s main host while Tunna is the show’s camera man and director. Whenever faced with a challenge especially in chowing down weird and bizzare food such as blood filled leeches or sloth’s brain, they would decide who gets the honor using the good old RPS (ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS) method. Works all the time.

Here are some clips from Madventures.

Be sure to catch Madventures on Travel Channel at 10pm EST, every Monday.

Love it, loath it? comments welcome.

-Boon

Yage Mado Hallucinogen

George Benson – Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 04:32:14 +0000

This is an absolutely amazing song or according to my gf, it’s a beautiful song.

George Benson – Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You (1985)