2008-01-31

What have you learned in School today?

This is what I usually ask my boys when they get home. The question reminds me of this song. This version is performed by Eddie Skoller.

Nice song until you start listening

Andrew has been playing this song lately (and singing). It is not anything new but it still holds.

Mad dogs and Englishmen

Last week Christine (see earlier blog entry) and I took the kids to the playground behind KLCC. It is a large and very nice playground, BUT we got there noon and the heat and Sunshine was terrible. I think we lasted for about 15-20 minutes not more. I kept singing the old tune "Mad dogs and Englishmen" which Christine never had heard  before.

Ann got back during the weekend and told me that some parts of Sweden only had 12 hours of Sunshine during the month of December. We have not had a temperature below 20 C (probably 25 C) since we got here. Here people use the umbrellas for shielding themselves from the Sun. In Sweden people try to get a tan as fast as possible when they get a glimpse of the Sun. "God moves in mysterious ways".

Anyway here is Noël Coward  from 1955.

If you have problems hearing what Mr. Coward is singing -- here are the lyrics.

2008-01-29

My Internet in Malaysia -- TMNET - Streamyx

If you arrive from Sweden to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia you are in for are slow ride. Sweden is one of the countries in the world with the best Internet connections.

We have bought a 1Mbit connection from TMNET - Streamyx and most of the time it works fine... But sometimes without no reason it does not work at ALL!! My main problem as an expat here in KL is that most of the information I would like to get access to is in Sweden, US-West or UK. Sometime the connection "times out" because it takes to long to get an answer (see ping below).

When you have problems with your connection ..... I found information on the web that suggests that you should turn your ADSL modem off for ~10 minutes so that the equipment can reset itself at the telephone exchange. Then start the ADSL modem and wait for 1-2 minutes before starting routers/switches and PCs.

If there is thunder and lightning in the air then your Internet connection might go down (might be that they close down the equipment so that it does not get hurt).

I have tried to find tools so that I can find out the speed of the Internet Connection that we have. I started out with the old Swedish developed test program TPtest from Konsumentverket that works fine except that it only connects to Swedish Servers and that it has not been updated for some time. However they have made a new test Bredbandskollen TPTEST which is easier except that it only connects to Swedish Servers and that it is in Swedish only (--Sorry).

Use this Test

After hunting around on the Internet I found Speedtest.net which has a number of servers all around the world to test with and the numbers look reasonable.

Test your Internet connection speed at Speedtest.net

The values could be better but these are good values!! These tests below were made before 9 am local time (not too many people on the Internet in KL).

Here are some values from my PC to different parts of the world.

ScreenHunter_ 2008-01-29_009

Geek stuff below

Paris is a nice a beautiful city and it is also the host for WoW (World of WarCraft) one of the Online Games that Andrew plays. One can understand why Andrew has problems with "Lags". If you look at the "Ping" field in the results you will see that it is 820 ms or 0.8 seconds for a packet to go from KL to Paris and back to KL. No wonder that Andrews avatars can not see what is coming and they get killed before they can do anything.

Speed of light = 299,792.458 kilometers per second.

Distance to server = ~10400 kilometers

velocity=distance/time   =>  time=distance/velocity

The time to Paris traveling at the speed of light is 0.0347 seconds or 34.7 milliseconds. This is the best that physics can give us. Our test above takes 817 ms back and forth or 408 milliseconds one way.

Sorry Andrew your lag is about 10 times that of the Speed of light!!

My Summery

ScreenHunter_ 2008-01-29_008 

Here are my coordinates. Push the image and you will find out your place on the Internet.

ScreenHunter_ 2008-01-29_010

If you have found a better test or have come to another conclusion I would be interested in your views. :-)

2008-01-28

How does a Rice Cooker Work???

Ann and I wondered How a Rice Cooker Works!! How does it know when to turn off?? I guess we could have dismantled it but we are satisfied with our working one.

2008-01-27

What did we do today --- Lost Ourselves In SPACE

Today we went to KLCC to see and listen to Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra playing music from Space Movies and TV series (StarWars, Star Trek, ET and other). Great Fun!!!

skanna0001

2008-01-26

This Guy Loves Food

 
My kids love to go to Souled Out because they have such a great variety of dishes.
 
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Rats at IKEA!!!!


I found rats at IKEA. These are for decoration! (Chinese New Year)

2008-01-25

Do you have a server at home???

Recently I bought a D-Link DNS-323. It is a diskless server .... well you have to buy the disks you like. I haven't had time to play around with it, but I will.

 "Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?", my kids would ask me that question not their Mother!!! The kids might ask "Mommy, Why has Daddy a New Server in the House (he got at least four already)?"

 

PS. This is a book published by Microsoft Press (guess which OS they talk about??)

Should I let the dogs out???



The US connection



My American Cousin Christine and her family has been visiting us this week. William her husband had to go to Singapore to work but Christine and her kids Johan and Elise (Meimei -- Little sister) has been with us for a few days. You can not be on a fast schedule if/when you have small kids. You need lots of snacks, ice-cream and other small treats to get them going. We have been to the playground at KLCC which is very large. A visit to the butterfly park to feed the fish and turtles (and to see the butterflies). Today we walked the Central Market. During this week Johan learned to float around in the pool (with support). There is so much more I would like to show them but not so much time....
 
Below you will find more pictures from their visit.








2008-01-19

Chinese New Year is coming up!!!

The good thing about living in Malaysia is that we celebrate everything and get days of from work and school. The New Chinese Year will start on the 7th of February. This year is the year of the Pig and next year is going to be the year of the Rat.

DSC00714

Interested in the Chinese Zodiac signs?

 

  Year Sign Description
Andrew 1995 Pig You are a splendid companion, an intellectual with a very strong need to set difficult goals and carry them out. You are sincere, tolerant, and honest but by expecting the same from others, you are incredibly naive. Your quest for material goods could be your downfall. The Pig would be best in the arts as an entertainer, or possible a lawyer.
Ann 1960 Rat You are imaginative, charming, and truly generous to the person you love. However, you have a tendency to be quick-tempered and overly critical. You are also inclined to be somewhat of an opportunist. Born under this sign, you should be happy in sales or as a writer, critic, or publicist.
Christoffer 1992 Monkey You are a vary intelligent and a very clever wit. Because of your extraordinary nature and magnetic personality, you are always well-liked. The Monkey, however, must guard against being an opportunist and distrustful of other people. Your sign promises success in any field you try.
Jonas 1958 Dog The Dog will never let you down. Born under this sign you are honest, and faithful to those you love. You are plagued by constant worry, a sharp tongue, and a tendency to be a fault finder, however. You would make an excellent businessman, activist, teacher, or secret agent.

2008-01-17

What is the difference???

What is the difference between a tortoise and a turtle?

What is the difference between a monkey and an ape?

Things I have learned from my kids @ ISKL.

Malaysian Open

 

 

The Swedish badminton players did not do so good in the Malaysian Open Badminton Tournament. (First link in Swedish--Sorry)

2008-01-13

Champagne for Breakfast



If you want a great experience try the Champagne Sunday Brunch @ Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur. As you can see we had a great time. Thanks Karin and Robert!!!








2008-01-04

Spam, spam and spam.


Spam in all kinds of flavors. Did Monty Python know about these when they did their sketch.

2008-01-02

Kuching River-Front


Kuching, Sarawak, Borneo

2008-01-01

Gone to the place where the "Pepper" grows.


Swedish: Dra dit Pepparen vaexer. (Borneo)

Orang Utan


Visiting the Man from from the Jungle.