Dell offer VSS to 700 Penang staff

Am I reading this wrong? Again??? The last time I heard was only for those whom have work more than 5 years...

Computer maker Dell Inc is offering a voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to 700 of its Penang workers in a bid to cut costs and stay lean.

The company yesterday announced that it will stop shipping its notebook computers from Penang to the US, Canada and parts of South America.

Dell will, however, continue to export its laptops to Australia, New Zealand and South Asia from its Bukit Minyak facility on mainland Penang.

Besides Penang, Dell has eight other manufacturing plants scat-tered around the world.

In Asia Pacific, Dell's manufacturing plants include those in Xiamen, China and Chennai in India.

Apart from making notebooks, the company also produces desktop computers, servers and storage products, which are manufactured to orders for global customers.

"The 700 affected staff will include production operators, supervisors and managers," Dell Malaysia senior manager for corporate communications Jasmine Begum told Business Times.

Dell, whose investment presence in Malaysia spans 14 years, has a total headcount of 4,500 and two facilities in Penang - one in Bukit Minyak and the other in Bayan Lepas on the island.

The company also has a global business centre in Cyberjaya.

Jasmine said the affected employees will begin to part ways with Dell beginning January 2010 and the company expects to conclude the VSS exercise by the middle of the year.

"We will however continue to hire here," she added, "in line with the Malaysian government's call to enhance its employee base and take them up the value chain."

Penang Starwalk 09 (13th Dec 09) Results - part2 (Men's Open and Women's Open)

All right, here comes part2 of the Penang Starwalk 2009 results. This time we have the men's open and women's open category. The winner lists are top45 for men's open and top35 for women's open.

I'm not sure about women's open but again in men's open category, there are a lot of cunning cheaters. Why can't they play it fair? You win a medal based on your capabilities, not by cheating and be proud of it !!! During the walk, when they see the officials standing by the side jotting down numbers, they quickly stopped and back to walking mode, but the moment they turned their heads back to see the officials not looking at them, they start running again!

The official a.k.a. Walk Judge did managed to caught 3 or 4 Indian guys cheating but somehow, when the winner list is out, I'm quite disappointed that the 2 obvious cheaters are in the top 20 positions. A1250 and A1017, you can tell all your friends how proud you are, but the truth is you are just a dirty cheat with unsportsmanlike tactics. It's so disgusting watching them cheat all the way during the walk and yet still managed to get away with a medal !!! Shame on them...

I'm happy getting no medal from this event as long as I play it fair and will be happy with my whatever timing.

Apart from the Boys, Girls and Men's Open category, I do not see or managed to see any other walkers from other categories cheat during the walk. Many of my friends are in the Women's Open top 35, so congrats to them :)

ps: stay tuned for the last part of the Starwalk09 results series, which will be the Veteran categories...

Metro Jaya Warehouse Sale 16 Dec 2009 - 20 Dec 2009 @ Penang

Event : Metro Jaya Warehouse Sale

Date : 16th to 20th Dec 2009

Time : 11am to 9pm

Venue : PISA Penang

Looking for good bargains for your household items? The metrojaya warehouse sales is back again in Penang. I went for the previous time and seems like it's really getting great responses, which is why they are back doing it again :)

Some items like bedsheets and pillows are going as low as 70% discount. GO have a look if you are free, I'm sure there will surely be something that you will need once you see them :) Good Luck !

Penang Starwalk 09 (13th Dec 09) Results - part1 (Boys and Girls)

Boys Category Winner List

Here you go, the first part of the Starwalk 2009 results held at PISA yesterday. The attached results are for the Boys and Girls category. The rest I will post in part2 or part3, so stay tune for those...

Girls Category Winners List

As usual, only top25 for Boys and top15 for Girls will be getting medals and prizes. Sadly to say, both these 2 categories have a lot of cheating people running during the event when you are supposed to be walking ONLY! I really hope the PAA can have more officials to stationed as Walk Judge....150metres per judge instead of ~300 metres.

Kudos to all the fair walking winners !

New points system confirmed for 2010

Formula 1 governing body the FIA has confirmed that the new top ten scoring system will be in place from the 2010 season onwards. The scheme, which will award Grand Prix winners 25 points, also includes an increased margin of five points between first and second positions.

With the latest scoring system in Formula 1 having been introduced in 2003, handing out points for seventh and eighth positions in order to allow smaller teams a chance of scoring, the latest change comes as the grid increases in size from 20 to 26 cars prior to the 2010 championship.

The 2010 points system is as follows:
1st - 25
2nd - 20
3rd - 15
4th - 10
5th - 8
6th - 6
7th - 5
8th - 3
9th - 2
10th - 1

Hehe, this is becoming like MotoGP format...hopefully next year will be an interesting year with this kind of new scoring format :)

Geminid meteor shower on Sunday night, 13th Dec 2009

Astronomy buffs who want to catch this year’s Geminid meteor shower should look to the skies this Sunday night.

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Astronomy and Atmospheric Science Research Unit lecturer Associate Prof Dr Chong Hon Yew said the annual shower would be visible in the night sky to the naked eye in any direction.

This year’s shower should peak at 1pm local time on Monday, and be visible to western hemisphere observers such as in North America and South America.

“However, the Geminid shower has a broad peak of about one-and-a-half days and so, with good weather permitting and a waning moon, many meteors should be visible on Sunday night,” he said.

The Geminid meteor shower occurs every year between Dec 9 and 19, reaching its peak on Dec 13 and 14.

The annual Geminid meteor shower, which peaks the night of December 14/15, is typically one of the best of the year. Occurring less than a month after the Leonids, the Geminid shower generally features brighter meteors.

The Geminids are so named because, if you trace all the meteor trails backward, they would meet within the boundaries of the constellation Gemini the Twins. This point, called the radiant, lies approximately 3° northwest of the 1st-magnitude star Castor.

If I can stay up so late on Sunday night, I will look upon the skies :)

Penang Starwalk 2009 route

As usual, this year Starwalk's route is the same like previous years. I'm just wishing that this year I do not miss the starting trigger like last year, ended up chase like mad guy. Also hope to get lucky draw...haha...wish me luck!