Apple has determined that certain lithium-ion batteries containing cells manufactured by Sony Corporation of Japan pose a safety risk that may result in overheating under rare circumstances.

The affected batteries were sold worldwide from October 2003 through August 2006 for use with the following notebook computers: 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4.

Apple is voluntarily recalling the affected batteries and has initiated a worldwide exchange program to provide eligible customers with a new replacement battery, free of charge. This program is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities.
Identifying your battery

Please use the chart below to identify the battery model and serial numbers that apply to your iBook or PowerBook. If the first 5 digits of your battery’s 12-digit serial number fall within the noted ranges, please order a replacement battery immediately.

To view the model and serial numbers labeled on the bottom of the battery, you must remove the battery from the computer. The battery serial number is printed in black or dark grey lettering beneath a barcode.

Click here view battery model range and serial number.

Note: After removing the recalled battery from the iBook or PowerBook, consumers should plug in the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives.

If you participated in a previous battery recall for any of these computer models or recently purchased or received from Apple an extra battery for an iBook G3, please check your battery serial number in case you received a replacement battery that is affected by this program.

National and regional resellers, catalogers, and Apple's on-line and retail stores sold the computers with the batteries from October 2003 through August 2006. These batteries were also sold separately and may have been supplied as service replacement units.
The Exchange Process

To begin the battery exchange process, you will be asked for the serial number of your iBook G4 or PowerBook G4, the serial number of your battery and a shipping address.

Customers in Australia and Asia (excluding Japan) should contact their local Apple Authorized Service Provider to obtain a replacement battery.

After serial number verification, a new battery will be shipped to you, free of charge. When you receive the replacement battery, please use the same shipping packaging and included prepaid shipping label to return the recalled battery to Apple for proper disposal.

Note: If your battery serial number does not match any of the ranges listed above, then forget it.

Currently in my ipod : Bob Sinclair - World, Hold on

Was looking for this documentary online. A very interesting documentary that talks about global warming. Click here to see trailer.

Eloquently weaves the science of global warming with Al Gore’s personal history and lifelong commitment to reversing the effects of global climate change. A longtime advocate for the environment, Gore presents a wide array of facts and information in a thoughtful and compelling way. The film is not a story of despair but rather a rallying cry.

Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is a good thing because it keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing forests we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures are rising.

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.

We’re already seeing changes. Glaciers are melting, plants and animals are being forced from their habitat, and the number of severe storms and droughts is increasing. You can do your bit at this website.







okay. My disappearance from the blogging scene is nothing new. Sometimes it's plain laziness. Sometimes it's writers' block. Sometimes it's just too tired. Sometimes i just don't feel like sharing. Sometimes it's sometimes.

But i found a few truth inconveniently revealing themselves unknowingly..

1) Girls i like before since school times are somehow born in the month of April. i seem to have some nemesis with April-ians. But interestingly, Cancers are water signs. Taurus are Fire Signs. Both signs are not cannot withstand one another. They don't attract each other anyway.


2) April used to be a month of finance. A new year for those who are working, finding themselves realising how much they have earn for the past one year.

" Ayy, i earn so much money ah?" or

" Ayy, i earn so little meh?" or the best complain i heard so far

" Wah....sibei pekcek... COE goes up, GST goes up, ah girl guni hoon goes up, sand prices goes up, my income tax also goes up " I say, my friend the only good reason that your income tax goes up because you earn more last year. *angry*


3) I have this" Pls intro girls to me " face now. Friends came up asking if i want to know this girl. Friends want to introduce this girl. Friends worried i have no girls. Colleagues want to hook me up with this girl. Colleagues want to introduce their girl friends to me. Colleagues want to introduce their daughter to me. For a moment, i'm thinking should i feel lucky or should i feel sad.

"Ah qiang ah, you have reach age to settle down liao. anyway you don't have gf for the past 2 years. you need some channels to release some energy rite........" *lol*


4) April is a month of breaking up. The reason i bring this up is that there seem to be a kind of fashion trend going around. Not that i like this kind of trend. Rather dishearten about the news that friends, colleagues, and bla bla bla. brought with their love ones after being together for many many many years. They are probably the last person that i thought would break up.

It's like moving in phases. When you reach certain age, you start giving angbaos to newly weds. When you reach certain age, your friends broke up after being together for years.

But people ( and if you are the one going through this), don't despair. Hang on. I know it's going to be very hard. But hang on. Things will turn out positive. Not that i'm promoting some religion but there's one which I remember once a friend from a religion said this statement,

" God is putting you through this test. And he knows you can do it and pass this test."

I also remember that God sent angels to show us the light in the darkness. Sometimes some angels he sent are without wings. I call these angels, friends. Maybe it's also time for you to re-look into you life for the past few years about what you have done.

Remember, it's always shine and bright after the rain.

Currently in my ipod : Kt Tunstall - other side of the world

Met an old friend today. She curiously mentioned that i've become gentlemanly. Was i that bad, lousy, cold in poly days? Frankly speaking, we haven't seen each other for more than maybe a year or 2. Our conversations were usually thru smses or msn. Wanted to write all this for a long time. Just as i wonder technology has brought us closer, it also drift people apart unknownly.

The I-Generation, some call it has invented a new communication means which our young generations has been using to communicate with their friends, families and making new friends. Everyone talks about emails, Google, cellphones, Friendster, MSN mesenger, 3G, etc. Peoples' emotions were transcript into emoticons, smileys or put the simple smiling muscles on your face into " :)" . Perhaps that's why Nokia has their tagline, Human Technolgy. Even work were corresponded over emails.

Lacking the human touch, are we victims of the E-World when our lifestyle so much depend on it? Maybe you can ask someone around to name the Top 5 things she/ he will press the panic button when she/ he lost them. Bet one of them is the cellphone.

Living in this I-Gen, i still like the one-to one conversation over a coffee or something. Don't like webcam either. Though it offers quick response from peer to peer, Internet still can't give the satisfaction of the 5 senses - sight, hear, smell, touch and voice. It can only offer visuals with sights and sounds, also not forgeting Internet telephony (VoIP) network where free voice or video conferencing.

August was a stressful, depressing, uncertainty month. Where alot of things happened had me tasted the meaning of " you never know what's gonna happen in the future". I never like suspension. Long waiting shivers my spine. Empty talks also bores me. Once, again the lightning with negative charge struck me hard.

Late last year, I was told that i am going to lose someone very dear to me in a matter of time. She was diagnosed with kidney failure. Transplant was out of question - weak heart. Nornal dialysis( both blood or water) were also not in the checklist. Put it bluntly, she's left to die with her knowledge that her days are numbered. I can never imagine how i would react when someone announced that to me.

Day by day, toxin level can be controlled by medicine. But to only a certain extent. Other parts of the organs are showing signs of failing including the weaken heart. She still managed to talk to me and laughing with me when she was admited into hospital. I was talking to her over 3G technology for a while too minus the touch. There were both tears of sadness and joy. To me, her life have been very hard and strong. Not to mention that she already watched her husbands died before her.

It was then, i felt that there's nothing worth to fight for in life. No point working so hard to earn a living, an recognition, a degree, etc.Why bother? Everyone will die anyway. Just a matter of time. We are waiting for death the very second we are born into this world.

Just waiting.

Don't worry, suicide is the word created for idiots. I'm smart.

But I will not wait endlessly. It's my life. We only live once and it has to be worthwhile. I want to be happy waiting and experience life. I will not succumb to any difficulties or obstacles. I'll will strive to live the way i want. Making choices that allow me to experience life within the time limits. Life is a wonderful thing which i think probably one of the wonderful things that the-being-some-call-up-there gave.

By the-being-some-call-up-there terms. The-being-some-call-up-there has sent the-being-some-call-up-there's followers to her. She must have found happiness. It's is a bliss. Though it will still be a draggy, painful journey, perhaps she will be lead to a place they call heaven. Her husbands waiting for her patiently. Perhaps they can stroll down the beach that they never get to do it before. Perhaps they can embrace sunset in each other arms that they never get to do it before. Perhaps they can count the stars of the Milky Way that they never get to do it before.

I really hope.

I sincerely apologise if you began to feel negatively about things in life after reading this post. But i do hope that you will pick up yourself again. Not now maybe. But not too late. Do something. Talk to a friend. Take a stroll. Play a game. Read a book. Forget about alcohol and drugs, they only worsen the situation.

Remember, be happy.

Lyrics:

Over the sea and far away
She's waiting like an Iceberg
Waiting to change,
But she's cold inside
She wants to be like
the water,

All the muscles tighten in her face
Buries her soul in one embrace
They're one and the same
Just like water

Then the fire fades away
But most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses
But it's too hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily
You're close enough to see that
You're.... the other side of the world
to me

On comes the panic light
Holding on with fingers
and feelings alike
But the time has come
To move along

Then the fire fades away
But most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses
But it's too hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily
You're close enough to see that
You're.... the other side of the world

Can you help me?
Can you let me go
And can you still love me
When you can't see me anymore

Then the fire fades away
most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses
But it's too hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily
You're close enough to see that
You're.... the other side of the world
Ohh.... the other side of the world
You're.... the other side of the world
To me.

Came across this clip on youtube. Click here if you can't see the clip.

Found this remix of "James Blunt 's You're Beautiful ". Maybe it's been there for quite a while . But sometimes you really need this kind of laughing gas to smoke the monday morning. Got the lyrics below too.

Click cubicle">here to listen. Compliments from MorningSidekick.

“My Cubicle”

Lyrics by: Morning Sidekick
Performed by: Jym Britton
Parody on “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt

Cube FarmMy job is stupid my day’s a bore,
Inside this office from eight to four
Nothin’ ever happens my life is pretty bland,
Pretending that I’m working, pray I don’t get canned.

My Cubicle, My cubicle
It’s One of Sixty two
It’s my small space in a crowded place
Just a six-by-six foot booth
And I hate it that’s the truth

When I give a sigh as the boss walks by,
no one ever talks to me or looks me in the eye.
And I really should work but instead I just sit here and surf the Internet.

In My Cubicle, My cubicle
It doesn’t have a view.
It’s my small space in a crowded place
I sit in solitude.
And sometimes I sit here nude.

got this from talkingcock.com. Pretty interesting... but curiously wonder what can worse than a hum-onei onei, hum-ice-kachang( blood and hum instead of condensed milk and atapchee), hum steak( middle raw), etc... hmmmm.


by Cockle Doodledo,




The reason for the Prime Minister’s notorious and embarrassing gaffe during his National Day Rally speech has been revealed.

In his 2006 National Day Rally speech, the Prem Binister had intended to deliver a withering, cogently argued response to those who saw the Gahmen’s clampdown on Mr. Brown as heavy-handed. Instead, the argument was not only garbled, but he inadvertently revealed how out of touch he was with the average Singaporean’s experiences.

By saying, ‘mee siam mai hum’, he created the impression that either:

1. he had never eaten mee siam in his life, as mee siam never contains ‘hum’, or cockles;

2. he could not tell the difference between laksa or char kway teow (which does have cockles) and mee siam (which doesn’t), which then raises questions about what he eats regularly, and how different his diet is from the average Singaporean;

3. he actually meant to say, ‘mee siam mai hiam’, which is possible. But by asking for no spice in a dish whose entire point is spiciness only suggests wimpiness;

4. he has never had to order food in a hawker centre in a long while, if at all, which again sets him apart from his constituents.

- all of which are not particularly flattering propositions.

However, the Prime Minister’s Orifice has managed to uncover the truth that the Prime Minister’s ‘mee siam mai hum’ statement was not in fact a gaffe, but derived from personal experience.

Specifically, his experience during a pre-election walkabout earlier this year at Bukit Gorblok Food Centre in Hong Kan GRC, where he sampled the wares of Mr. Hum Kah Chan, a tze char hawker whose speciality is serving cockles with everything.

Yah lor, said Mr. Hum, whose stall is aptly named ‘Humpalang Hawker Food’. Prem Binister come to my stall, so I offer him my today’s special, mah.

Which was you guessed it mee siam with cockles.

I put hum in everything, he said proudly, with a hint of defensiveness. Chicken rice with hum, nasi lemak with hum, bak kut teh with hum, prata with hum, even ice kacang with hum. I love hum. Hum, hum, hum, hum, lovely hum, wonderful hum.

The Prime Minister consumed the dish, said Mr. Gerry Mandhir, an officer with the PMO. And promptly had diarrhoea. Not the verbal variety that runs in certain geriatric members of his family, but from somewhere, um, lower down.

Mr. Hum subsequently had his licence suspended for unhygienic food practices.

What to do? The hum was pai, said Mr. Hum ruefully, using the Hokkien word for ‘bad’, before chanting angrily, Pai hum! Pai hum! Pai hum! Pai hum! Since then, the Prime Minister has had a phobia of foods containing cockles, and always asks that whatever is served to him does not contain the offending bivalves.

This explains his statement. The hum was very harmful to him, said Mr. Mandhir. It was especially embarrassing because he was wearing white pants. You must understand this incident is also why he just cannot stand the colour brown.

got this email from a friend. You just don't get such long emails about complains. Felt unworth for her, our PM and fellow Singaporeans for their efforts to let tourists feel at ease while shopping in Singapore. Afterall, tourism is one of money-earning way in a country. And talking about ‘Go the Extra Mile for Service’ (GEMS) Movement for that saleman.

And all we need is just one mother fucker to mud-stain on a white shirt. It is that obvious.


Email:

Hello Friends,

I just want to share with you a terrible experience we had when we traded-in my mother-in law cellphone at the CYBER JIN Pte Ltd (Lucky Plaza #B1-81, near 7-eleven) this weekend.

The story goes like this; my Mom wanted to trade-in her old cellphone to buy a brand new N70. We accompanied her to the Lucky Plaza hoping we could get a good bargain. Then we found this store that agreed to buy my Mom's cellphone for $220 and would charge us only $550 (net) for an N70 under the condition that we do both transactions (buy and sell) with them. So far, this store offers us the best bargain compared to other stores from the rest of the building.

We agreed to their transaction proposal as we were then in a bit of a hurry (she was only a tourist and would stay in Singapore for only 4-days). However, when we were about to pay, the salesman suddenly told us "Why do you want an N70? This is a very bad phone. In fact this is one of the most problematic phones of Nokia." He immediately caught our attention and in fact gained our trust (imagine a salesman telling you that a product you are about to buy from him is not worth the money you are paying it for). He then proceeded to make his presentation about why we should not buy an N70 and even said "If you really want it I can sell it to you but please know that we've heard a lot of complains about it". Afterwards, he brought out anN6280, which he said was by far a better phone than the N70 at almost thesame price (he even gave another short presentation of its advantages). Of course, since he already gained our trust, we found his presentation very convincing.

We bargained for the phone and he said "I can give it to you at just $555 (net)". After being impressed by a convincing presentation, my Mom agreed to trade-in her old cellphone for $220, and buys the brand new N6280 for $555 (This means that she just would have to shell out another $335). We told the salesman that we would pay by Nets and we gave him our card. While paying, he tried to sell to us a 64Mb mini-SD Card for $20. We said we did not want it (as my mother wouldn't use it anyway). We proceeded with the transaction, got our phone and asked for the receipt. The salesman said that the Nets certificate would be our receipt. Should we encounter any problem, we just look for him and he would be happy to assist us. Since we are in a hurry, we took our phone and nets certificate and left. While we were leaving, he handed us the 64Mb mini-SD Card and said "Take this as a free gift from me".

After a long day of sight seeing and a little shopping, we finally got home and my mom finally had her first chance to test her new cellphone. To her surprise, the supposedly brand-new cellphone had contact numbers (some even had photo-contacts) of some people in its phone memory (meaning it was used and wasn't brand new!). We then checked the phone's serial number (IMEI#) and again to our dismay, we found out that the phone's IMEI# doesn't match the IMEI# listed in the box. We did a research to see what other things the salesman tricked us into believing and we found out that the 64Mb SD Card that he was trying to sell us for $20 was in fact part of the phone's original package (some other things listed as part of the original package as seen from brochures were also missing). Not just that, we checked the Nets certificate, and learned that he charged $355 instead of just $335 (so sneaky, we didn't even notice!). Worst of all, we found that the price of the N6280 from neighboring stores is just $450(net) while he sold it to us for a total of $575! (Including the extra $20 we did not notice that he charged us through Nets).

Imagine how disappointed my Mom would be after knowing that she bought a cellphone that is not just $100+ overpriced but is also isn't brand new as we were made to believe (plus the fact that some of the components from the original package were removed and the that salesman charged more than what we had agreed).

The next day, we went back to the store to complain and get a refund. The salesman said that he couldn't give us a refund. What he can do is to buy the cellphone we bought from him a day ago for $575, and give us ONLY $300 (does he think we're that stupid!!!)... We did not agree and insisted a REFUND; during our discussion one of his colleagues shouted, "Give them a new box so that they would leave!!!" (He's so rude!) I don't know how stupid these people think we are if all we came for was to get a new box.... I told them that if they wouldn't refund our money, we would report this matter to the police. They just gave an insulting grim and said "Go ahead, we'll see you in court" and then one of them lit a cigarette (inside the shop), and smoked in front of us and along the hallways of the mall (while wearing that insulting smile) as if telling us that he is not scared of the police. In fact, he can smoke in a "No Smoking Zone".

While we were leaving (to complain to the police) we came across an Indian couple who owns souvenir shop nearby and told us that this (our incident) happens almost every week. The Indian lady said that this store always gets complains from tourists but are always able to get away with it because tourists usually would just go away. She also said that this store avoids (if they can) giving receipts to unsuspecting customers to cover their fraudulent transactions. She suggested that if we can, we should complain these people to the authorities because they make Singapore look bad. We went to the security department of Lucky Plaza and the security people helped us contact the police. The Lucky Plaza security people also admitted that this always happens but it's just not their jurisdiction so they really cannot do anything about these incidents other than making a report to the police. The security people also advised that it is illegal for a store not to issue a proper receipt detailing all transactions to a customer. This
means that the Nets certificate that we have (although having the store name and address) is not a valid receipt after all.

The police came, talked to us and told us to wait for them at the security counter of the mall while they went to the store and talked to these people. We told the police that we want a refund because we were cheated and do not trust these people or any of their products anymore. We also reported that the store did not issue a proper receipt. The police went to the store, talked to the manager and came back to tell us that the manager's suggestion was to give us a new N6280 (one that matches the IMEI of box and the unit!!!) so that all of these would be settled. We told the police that we want a refund and we don't want to do any business with them. Then, the Police suggested that we file our complaints to CASE, because they are not the right person for these kinds of situations.

As of now, we are gathering all evidence we can that could help when we file our complaint to CASE. We are hoping that the Nets certificate that we have will suffice as one of our evidences. We are no longer interested of the refund, what we want now is to teach these crooks a lesson so that they will stop cheating other people. Let this email be a warning to you and your friends. Always check a product very well (research if possible) before buying and always make sure you get a 'detailed receipt' of all your transactions. Never fall prey on these predators waiting for unsuspecting customers.