Archive for March, 2005

Who do I Blog for?

Tuesday, March 15th, 2005

For my readers, few though they may be. For my kids, who’ll remember what I wrote when I don’t. For my staff, who’ll remind me of the nice things a boss I said should do. For other bloggers, who read and trackback my stuff.

Earliest Putra Train?

Monday, March 14th, 2005

This must be one of the earliest Putra LRT Train built. No train numbers. And that station doesn’t look like any one of the 24 stations on RapidKL’s Putra LRT Line.

That Tripod site also includes some other early photos and project sketches of the Putra project. The webmaster is Emrull Iqbarullah.

Word Press Customizations

Monday, March 14th, 2005

I’ve just took some time to do the following WordPress customizations:

Dealing with a Difficult Boss

Sunday, March 13th, 2005

It seems that successfully managing a difficult boss is a challenge but often feasible. Some ways to deal with difficult bosses are:

  1. Understand the problem. – Recognize that, unless your boss is a bully, their behavior is probably due to ignorance.
  2. Manage your own negative emotions. – Do not engage in self-defeating behavior such as stonewalling, or counter-attacking your boss. Control your emotions.
  3. Talk to the boss. Tell him what you need from him in term of direction, feedback and support. Be polite and focus on your needs. You should discuss your concerns — not confront your boss. Telling the boss he’s a bad boss is counterproductive and won’t help you meet your goals.
  4. Try to support the boss. – Ask the boss how you can help him reach his goals. Make sure you listen well and provide the needed assistance. You will be seen as a team player and may be able to advance in the organization with or without your boss.
  5. Stand up for yourself. – Supporting your boss isn’t the same as being a doormat. Don’t tolerate being yelled at or otherwise treated badly. If your boss does something unacceptable, say so as directly and unemotionally as possible.
  6. Seek a mentor. – With the full knowledge of your current boss, find a mentor from among other managers or more skilled peers, to enlarge your opportunity for experience.
  7. Document the problem. – If your boss is a bully, keep a written record of incidents and when they occur. Where possible, have a witness.
  8. Ask for a transfer – If you think the problem is that your boss can’t – or won’t – change, and you like your employer and your work, ask for transfer to another department.
  9. Look for a new job. – If the situation does not improve, you may need to look for a workplace that does not tolerate bad bosses. Remember, you deserve to have a boss who treats you with respect.

References:

Rolling Tyres

Sunday, March 13th, 2005

My personal experience with (an almost) rolling tyre incident was back in early 80s in my student days using an old Nissan hatch back. While driving in the middle of Nottingham city, suddenly the Nissan sprung a regular clunking sound from the front left wheel. As it gets louder, I stopped by the road side. Fearing a major axle failure, universal joint failure or something, I called AA for help, and their mobile van promptly came by. I was a wee bit red in the face, when the AA man diagnosed the clunking as due to poorly tightened wheel nuts. The day before I did change that wheel due to a flat tyre. Lessons learned: tighten the wheel nuts to “feet force” tight, not just “hands force” tight.

Armed with a Digicam

Sunday, March 13th, 2005

Mycuppa found his digital SLR to be a useful defence weapon to keep an illegal parking caretaker at bay. I have yet to do the same with my pdaphone cam or my ultra compact digicam that is usually with me.

Since I always ARMED with my D70, so I take a few “live scene” which including KLCC, and I am not hesitate to use flash light. Flash, flash, flash, after 4-5 shot, the leecher shut his mouth up; instead of walking towards the direction where I park my car, he retreat back to this “caretaking-parameter”.

Nusantara Cracker-fest

Saturday, March 12th, 2005

Jeff Ooi wrote about the escalating Nusantara cracker fest this weekend. I hope this spate of websites defacement will not be as bad as feared, and cool heads prevail.
Updated: 13 Mar 2005 1735h

Div Float Right

Saturday, March 5th, 2005

Some XHTML code to remember …

<div class=”someclass” style=”float: right; margin-left: 5px;”>Some text floating on the right</div>

PC Lifespan and Replacement

Saturday, March 5th, 2005

Should we change from typical write-off period of 5 years to replacement cycles of 4 years?

  • PC Lifespan and Replacement – Mike Barger’s guidelines under Creative Commons copyright recommending, “Increase the replacement life cycle for newly purchased … PCs to 4 years … offers the best mix of lower initial purchase cost with extended time between PC purchases … represents the lowest overall cost of ownership.” He included computer replacement cost over 15 years comparison for different replacement cycles, and computer technology changes over 10 years.
  • Upgrade or Replace? What to do With an Older Computer System – distinguishes between functional lifespan of computers, “as long as the parts that comprise the system work … anywhere from 10 years or more”, and useful lifespan of computers, “anywhere from 3 to 6 years depending upon the configuration of the computer at the time of purchase”. The articles suggests when “the cost of upgrading is 75% or higher than the cost of replacement for a better system, consider replacement.”

Net Book Value of Computers

Saturday, March 5th, 2005

… or when to completely write 0ff the net book values of those darn computers. ;-)

  • InvestorWords: net book value“The net value of an asset. Equal to its original cost (its book value) minus depreciation and amortization. also called net book value and depreciated cost.”
  • Investopedia: Book Value“1. The value at which an asset is carried on a balance sheet. In other words, the cost of an asset minus accumulated depreciation. 2. The net asset value of a company, calculated by total assets minus intangible assets (patents, goodwill) and liabilities.”
  • Nebraska Personal Property Return“Net Book Value is the taxable value for property tax purposes. It is the Nebraska adjusted basis of the tangible personal property multiplied by the appropriate depreciation factor for the recovery period and year. The property tax is imposed on the net book value of tangible personal property. Example: A computer has a Nebraska adjusted basis of $12,000. The computer was purchased three years ago. The computer has a recovery period of five years. The depreciation factor (see Table 1) is 41.65%. The net book value (taxable value) of the computer is $4,998.”
  • Writing Off Those Computers More Quickly – Small Business Canada, March 27, 2004 – “… a new Capital Cost Allowance class for computers. Now computers purchased March 23 or later will be eligible for a Capital Cost Allowance of 45 percent [in first year] rather than 30 percent, meaning that businesses will be able to write them off more quickly.”
  • Tax Change 2005: Writing Off Small Business Equipment Fast – regarding US taxes – “Tax planners call it “first-year expensingâ€? and the IRS calls it the “Section 179 deduction.â€? Whatever you call it, you get to write off not 50% but 100%, of the cost of the equipment in the first year of use … First-year expensing only works for small business.”