Baby Son Learns To Walk

My 13 month old baby son finally learn to walk today. Right on the last day of the year, 2009. He was so overjoyed that he could do it finally. Every time he walked a few steps and fell down again, he would laugh, clapped his tiny hands and then clasped his hands like in prayer, moving them up and down like as if thanking the heavens. He had tried the whole day, starting from early morning onwards and he was getting kinda frustrated before finally he managed it. He was really pushing himself to walk before the new year arrives (as if he knew).

'This Hardware Cannot Be Installed' Error

Recently my PC (running on Windows XP) started having problems with my USB flash drives (actually all USB flash drives as I found out later). My PC can detect them but can't use them. In the Device Manager, they were correctly listed but with an exclamation mark next to it meaning error. I tried to re-install the devices for each respective USB flash drives but encountered a 'This Hardware Cannot Be Installed' error message. I tried re-installing the Microsoft Service Pack 3 as well and no good, the problem still persist. It was really frustrating.

I then search for a solution in some of the Windows XP forums. None of them offered a workable solution until this forum. In one of the solutions posted, it suggested downloading the USBSTOR.inf file. That I followed and downloaded the file from this excellent site which offers .inf files for free download. I put the file in my 'Driver cache' folder under the windows folder.

I then fired up Device Manager, select the problematic flash drive, right-click and select 'Update driver'.

In the 'Hardware Update Wizard' pop-up box that appears, I selected 'Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)' and specified the folder where the downloaded file was located. Click Next ... et viola my woes are gone ! My pc can read my usb flash drive again !

That felt like magic...good magic.

Solution To "MMC could not create the snap-in. The snap-in might not have been installed correctly."

I'm using a Windows XP and tried to open the Device Manager today. To my surprise, I got a "MMC could not create the snap-in" error screen instead (pic):

I recalled that 2 weeks ago I encountered the exact same problem after I ran a third party 'Registry Cleaner' software to fix some device problems my pc was having. That time I solved the problem by re-installing Windows XP.

This time I thought well there must be an easier way to fix the problem. So I searched the Microsoft support site and see if I can find a solution related to the problem. Thanked my lucky stars there was a solution for it. The solution is in this Microsoft support page. It suggested downloading a hotfix to fix the problem. So I downloaded the hotfix and applied it. It worked swell. My Windows XP device manager is working again. No more "MMC could not create the snap-in. " screen. What a relief that was.

Adam Khoo On TVIQ's 'The Millionaire Makers'

I was flipping channels last night on Astro (Malaysia's pay TV) when I chanced upon a segment on Adam Khoo, on TVIQ channel. It was a program called 'The Millionaire Makers'. For the uninitiated, Adam Khoo is a Singaporean entrepreneur, a best selling author, peak performance trainer and a self-made millionaire by the age of 26.

From the program, I learnt that Adam Khoo's a huge Star Wars fan. He even owns the Darth Vader mask with the voice changer and saber which he gladly demonstrated in front of the camera. He bought it in Malaysia for around RM 500. He goes on to tell us that when as a kid that he used to have loads of Star Wars toys but of course his mother has threw them all away.

He confesses to enjoying playing Playstation games and was shown playing some Tiger Woods golf game.

At one point he proudly shows off his huge collection of books. I chuckled when I saw some 'Idiot's Guide to ...' books in the collection. He picked one book out from the shelf to show to the camera and my heart skipped a beat when I saw that it's 'Buffetology' by Mary Buffet, the exact same edition that I have. He must have bought it around the same time that I did. Well, but he's now a millionaire and I'm still almost where I was when I bought the book.

We also see that he drives a sporty BMW (hmm, that's not being very frugal) but interestingly his home is pretty tidy ... and bare (I guess that's him being frugal).

Well, I'm glad I came across this little profile segment of Adam Khoo. Got to know some interesting facts and background about my favorite guru. I will keep an eye out for the repeats. Missed the first few minutes.

Ampang Gleneagles Hospital Email Hoax

I've been receiving the following email about a deadly perfume sample every now and then ever since last year:

Subject: FW: News from Ampang Gleneagles Hospital Important news to pass it on Please spend 1 minute and read on... News from Gleneagles Hospital (Ampang) URGENT !!!!! from Gleneagles Hospital Limited

Seven women have died after inhaling a free perfume sample that was mailed to them. The product was poisonous. If you receive free samples in the mail such as lotions, perfumes, diapers etc. throw them away. The government is afraid that this might be another terrorist act. They will not announce it on the news because they do not want to create panic or give the terrorists new ideas. Send this to all your friends and family members.

Warmest Regards,

Mei ling
Gleneagles Hospital Limited Human
Resource Department
Tel: 03-4270 3474
Fax: 03-4270 3472

I did a check at the Ampang Gleneagles Hospital website and there they confirm that it was a hoax. Read here at their website.

Tony Fernandes of Air Asia Has Own Blog

Hey, I didn't know that Tony Fernandes of Airasia has a blog. I've only just stumbled upon it today while google searching for some bio data on the man. It's located at http://www.tonyfernandesblog.com/. I once bumped into him at a local shopping centre. I think that was about 2 years ago at the time of the X Airasia launch. My wife noticed him first and pointed him out to me. Tony Fernandes was with his wife and had the Airasia cap on. They were walking around the ground floor of the shopping centre and finally went into a shop to have a look at some luxury watches. I'm pretty sure the shop attendants must have got a shock albeit a good one.

The Cure's 'Boys Don't Cry'

My 2 1/2 year old daughter, Sophia, hummed to the opening guitar riffs of The Cure's "Boy's Don't Cry" today. I was playing the song on my mobile phone when she started to take interest to the song. That was also the first time I heard her hummed the melody of any song. She normally sings part of the verses of songs she liked but never hummed to any before this.

"Together again" ... after 11 long years

I believe I bumped into Suziesenorita today at Ta Kiong Supermarket at the Spring shopping mall today. Suziesenorita was the girl that many years ago I had tried hard to win her heart but ultimately failed. I wasn't really 100% sure it was her at first as it has been a long time since I last saw her (11 years to be exact) and also because she looked slightly different. Her hairstyle has changed, her face is thinner and she looked ...well, older. She was wearing the dark blue KPA (Kuching Port Authority) coat that she wore so that more or less confirmed it was her. It was a Friday and she must have taken advantage of the extended lunch time on Fridays to shop for some candies at Ta Kiong. I recalled when I went out with her she likes to shop for candies at supermarkets we visited.

Well, we came face to face about 8 feet apart. My 8 month old baby William was with me. When I saw her face I didn't recognize her at once. It was only like a second or two later that realization dawned upon me that it was my beloved Suzie. I don't know why but perhaps by instinct or out of total surprise I quickly turned around. I was not sure how to react. Then a wide smile broke over my face. Did she recognized me I thought? When I turned around, she had already gone back to searching for her candies. For the next few minutes I spied on her from a distance.

'Sounds Of The Universe' Stream

Looks like there's an European site that's got exclusive streaming rights to the new Depeche Mode album 'Sounds Of The Universe'. You can now listen to the whole album at: http://www.dhnet.be/dm/

The sound quality of this stream is better than either the 320 Kbps or 192 Kbps leaked mp3 versions even though its only 120 Kbps. That's because its encoded from a better source. The sound is crispier and better mastered.

I've Listened To Depeche Mode's 'Sounds Of The Universe'

It's now one week after Depeche Mode's upcoming album 'Sounds Of The Universe' (SOTU from now onwards) was leaked. Since then I've listened to SOTU like almost 20 over times now.

I'm surprised the album sounds surprisingly fresh and upbeat. It's like an album from a new band and not from a band that has been around for 30 years. It's hands down better than 2001's lacklustre 'Exciter' and is definitely an excellent follow up to 2005's 'Playing The Angel'.

Continuing on the trend from 'Playing The Angel', this album once again see them embracing their electronic roots again. On this album, they have pushed the guitars to the background and brought the synths back to the fore. Drum machines are once again very evident.

Overall the album has a retro feel to it partly because a lot of old vintage analog synths were used. Although they are using lots of analog synths it must be clarified that they are not using them like they used to. So don't expect anything sounding like 'Speak and Spell' on this album, ok maybe the beginning of 'Perfect' does sound like 'Puppets'.

The tracks from the album:-


1. In Chains - In a recent interview Dave Gahan the lead vocalist of Depeche Mode leaked that they will open every show of their 'Tour Of The Universe' world tour with this track. The track is indeed an appropriate track for opening a show and so I couldn't agree more. The track begins with a long electronic buzz or hum that sounded like maybe that THX thingie from the theatres.

2. Hole To Feed - This album version sounds very different in terms of production from the boring version that was leaked. Its been spruced up a bit here.

3. Wrong - I didn't notice the guitar riff in the background the first time I heard the song from their Echo Awards performance. I've just noticed it. Well, not one of their finest singles but not their worst either.

4. Fragile Tension - The very first track from SOTU to be leaked. Most will be disappointed that there is very little difference between the leaked version and this album version. Perhaps, a bit more electronic sounds sprinkled here and there, that's about it.

5. Little Soul - This song starts off a trio of synthpop tracks that wraps with 'Peace'.

6. In Sympathy - One of my favorite tracks from SOTU. It begins with the riff from 1993's 'Songs Of Faith And Devotion''s 'Walking In My Shoes' but slightly speeded up.

7. Peace - Is this DM doing an Erasure? As it is very Erasure-esque. No doubt fans of pure synthpop will dig this.

8. Come Back - One of the slow songs on SOTU. Embarassingly simple lyrics. The whole song just come across as slighltly pretentious. I usually skipped this track.

9. Spacewalker - The production on this instrumental track could have been from the 'Music For The Masses' era, think Stjarna and Agent Orange. It's their best instrumental in years.

10. Perfect - If Peace sounds like an 'Erasure' song then this sounds like a Duran Duran song. It's amazing how Gahan at times sound like Simon Le Bon on this track. Was it deliberate ?

11. Miles Away / The Truth Is - My least favorite track of the album and not too surprisingly it's a track I usually skipped.

12. Jezebel - The only track helmed by Martin on this album. I found it really nice to listen to this at night.

13. Corrupt - Another track that just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe in time it will grow on me.

Overall, I rate SOTU 8/10.

I owned every one of Depeche Mode's albums (except for SOFAD live). There's no doubt that I'll be getting the official SOTU for my collection when it comes out on April 21st 2009.