Matahariku

1st S. Korean Woman Conquer 14 Highest Peak

KATMANDU, Nepal – A South Korean mountaineer became the first woman to scale the world's 14 highest mountains, crawling on all fours Tuesday as she reached the last summit.

Oh Eun-sun, 44, arrived at the final, steep stretch of Annapurna in the Himalayas 13 hours after she left the last camp to beat a Spanish rival to the record. Her feat was broadcast live in South Korea by KBS television.

At the top, she pulled out a South Korean flag, waved, and then wept before throwing up her arms and shouting, "Victory!"

Annapurna was the last of the 14 peaks above 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) Oh needed to climb to set the mark. She reached the summit _ 26,545 feet (8,091 meters) above sea level _ 13 years after she scaled her first Himalayan mountain, Gasherbrum II, in 1997. She scaled Everest in 2004.

The whole team was in good health and was making its way down to the base camp, expedition coordinator Song Hea-kyong said in the Nepalese capital. They were expected back in Katmandu by the weekend, Song said.

Oh narrowly beat Edurne Pasaban of Spain to the record. After reaching Annapurna earlier this month, Pasaban, 26, has only the 26,330-foot-high (8,027-meter-high) Mount Shisha Pangma left on her list.

Oh also tried to summit Annapurna last year but turned away just hundreds of yards (meters) from the top because of bad weather. Snow and wind also stopped her from making the trek last weekend.

"I gave it up because of a sudden ominous feeling that something bad would happen to either me or my peers, including the sherpas, on my way back to base camp," she told The Korea Times newspaper last month.

She said this trip would be different, adding that she would be carrying a photograph of Ko Mi-young, a lifelong rival who fell to her death last year while descending from Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth-highest peak.

On Tuesday, KBS footage showed Oh breathing heavily after each step in minus-20 Fahrenheit (minus-29 Celsius) temperatures on snowy Annapurna.

"I'm so happy, and I would like to share this joy with the South Korean people," said an emotional Oh, murmuring, "Thank you, thank you."

President Lee Myung-bak sent a congratulatory message, saying South Koreans were "awakened to her great spirits of challenge," according to his office.

"She is really great and I'm proud of her," he said.

Oh's quest has met with some controversy, after some questioned whether she had in fact summited one of the peaks on the list: Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest. Photos taken of that trek did not clearly prove she had reached the summit. She dismissed the criticism.

"I can say that I have stood at the summit of Mount Kanchenjunga," she told reporters in Seoul late last year, according to Yonhap news agency. "It was bad weather. Three sherpas told me that I reached the top, and one of them took the picture."

Oh has described mountain climbing as an addiction.

"For a while after a successful climb, I seriously consider quitting," she told The Korea Times. But "I find my heart longing for the exhilaration I had on the top of a summit."

Peek @ Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Aliens May Exist But Contact Would Hurt: Hawking

LONDON: Aliens may exist but mankind should avoid contact with them as the consequences could be devastating, British scientist Stephen Hawking has warned.

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," said the astrophysicist in a new television series, according to British media reports.

The programmes depict an imagined universe featuring alien life forms in huge spaceships on the hunt for resources after draining their own planet dry.

"Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach," warned Hawking.

The doomsday scenario is suggested in the series "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" on the Discovery Channel, which began airing in the United States on Sunday.

On the probability of alien life existing, he says: "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.

"The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."

Glowing squid-like creatures, herds of herbivores that can hang onto a cliff face and bright yellow predators that kill their prey with stinging tails are among the creatures that stalk the scientist's fantastical cosmos.

Mankind has already made a number of attempts to contact extraterrestrial civilisations.

In 2008, American space agency NASA beamed the Beatles song "Across the Universe" into deep space to send a message of peace to any alien that happens to be in the region of Polaris -- also known as the North Star -- in 2439.

But the history of humanity's efforts to contact aliens stretches back some years.

The US probes Pioneer 10 and 11 were launched in 1972 and 1973 bearing plaques of a naked man and woman and symbols seeking to convey the positions of the Earth and the Sun.

Voyager 1 and 2, launched in 1977, each carry a gold-plated copper phonogram disk with recordings of sounds and images on Earth.

S’pore Will Not Renew One Water Agreement

SINGAPORE: Singapore will not need to renew one water agreement with Malaysia which expires next year.

That’s because Singapore has ramped up with local water supply with new reservoirs, NEWater and desalinated water.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim said Singapore will build a second desalination plant over the next few years to ensure reliability in water supply.

Environment & Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, said: "As the production of NEWater and desalinated water are independent of rainfall, they can be used to supplement water stocks in an extended dry spell like the one experienced in February this year, which was the driest February on record."

World’s First Curved Double Helix Bridge Opens

SINGAPORE: The world’s first double helix curved bridge in Marina Bay will open to the public this Saturday (April 24) at 9.30pm.

The pedestrian bridge is set to transform Singapore’s city landscape, and serve as a key link to the second integrated resort, Marina Bay Sands.

A walk along this 280—metre long bridge promises to be a treat to an architectural marvel that took two years to complete.

It has not been given a name yet.

But it’ll be well—known — as an engineering feat that’s assembled with great precision, using a special stainless steel to withstand corrosion.

The steel tubes form the minor and major helix that spiral in opposite directions. In fact, if all the steel tubes forming the major and minor helix are laid end to end, it will measure 2,250 metres long — almost the length of the 2.4 kilometres fitness run.

The pedestrian bridge is centrally located just beside the floating platform at Marina Bay. And in the future, it will offer you a direct link to the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort.

It will probably take less than five minutes to walk the entire length of the bridge. While doing so, one will be able to admire the city skyline and the entire structure of the bridge.

The link to Marina Bay Sands integrated resort is still cordoned for now. It will open when Phase 2 of the IR opens this June.

Fun Siew Leng, Group Director of Urban Planning and Design, Urban Redevelopment Authority, says: "In terms of people coming by the MRT, the promenade station has just been opened, so people coming from the station can get to the bay front avenue through the pedestrian bridge.

"And when the Promenade is completed by the middle of this year, together with this bridge, it will form a 3.5—kilometre pedestrian loop around the whole bay."

When the lights come on at night, the bridge will take on a different look.

The lighting feature can be programmed to create various moods for different celebrations.

At its entrance is Singapore’s first art park — the Youth Olympic Park — where works sit as a symbol of the inaugural games this August.

Motorists will be able to use a new vehicular bridge, just beside the double helix bridge, from 3pm on Sunday (April 25).

Both bridges and the Youth Olympic Park will officially open at 8pm on Saturday, complete with performances and pyrotechnic display.

The total cost for all 3 new features is about $82.9 million.

Penyanyi Achik Spin Maut Dalam Kemalangan

SEREMBAN, 17 April — Penyanyi Achik Spin atau nama sebenarnya Abdillah Murad Md. Shari, 27, meninggal dunia dalam kemalangan ngeri di KM 14.7 Lebuh Raya Kajang-Seremban (LEKAS) dekat sini, petang tadi.

Pegawai Turut Trafik negeri ASP Abd Halil Hamzah berkata kejadian berlaku pukul 6.15 petang apabila kenderaan pelbagai guna (MPV) jenis Toyota Estima yang dinaiki penyanyi itu bersama seorang rakan lelaki yang belum dikenali dikatakan terbabas dan melanggar papan tanda.

“Achik meninggal dunia di tempat kejadian selepas kenderaan yang dipandunya itu melanggar papan tanda selepas melepasi kawasan Rawat dan Rehat (R&R) dekat susur keluar ke Pajam.

“Difahamkan kenderaan yang dipandunya itu dalam perjalanan balik ke Seremban bersama seorang rakan selepas menyertai sebuah rancangan di RTM, Kuala Lumpur,” katanya di sini.

Katanya Achik meninggal dunia di tempat kejadian selepas mengalami kecederaan parah di kepala dan beberapa bahagian anggota badan.

Allahyarham dikatakan tercampak keluar dari kenderaan, yang kemudiannya terbakar dan meletup.

Mayat Achik dan rakannya yang cedera telah dibawa ke Hospital Tuanku Ja’’afar (HTJ) Seremban.

Sementara itu Ketua Operasi Bomba dan Penyelamat dari Mantin, Hamizin Khaidir berkata, penyanyi berkenaan tercampak keluar dari MPV dan orang ramai cuba menyelamatkannya sebelum dia meninggal dunia.

“Pihak kami menerima panggilan pada pukul 6.32 petang dan kebakaran berjaya dipadamkan beberapa minit kemudian,” katanya.

Achik merupakan penyanyi utama kumpulan Spin yang popular sekitar tahun 2002.

Penyanyi yang popular dengan lagu Janji Kita itu telah mendirikan rumahtangga dengan bekas Pegawai Khidmat Pelanggan Astro, H.M. Rose Zaitul Suriani Wati Maarof pada Nov 2005.

Mereka dikurniakan seorang cahaya mata, Puteri Rania pada 2007 tetapi meninggal dunia ketika berusia dua bulan akibat demam panas dan masalah usus dalam perut.

Achik Spin bernikah dengan Tasha atau nama sebenarnya HM Rosezaitul Suriani Wati pada 18 November 2005. Pada 9 Januari 2007, Tasha selamat melahirkan Putri Rania di Hospital Tunku Jaafar, Seremban. Namun, anak sulongnya itu meninggal dunia kerana dijangkiti penyakit derita demam panas selama seminggu dan disyaki mempunyai masalah dengan usus dalam perut.

Al-Fatihah. Semoga allahyarham ditempatkan di kalangan orang-orang beriman. Nampaknya, tahun 2010 menyaksikan ramai sekali insan seni yang telah pergi meninggalkan dunia untuk mengadap Allah Yang Maha Esa.

Apple Engineer Loses iPhone Prototype

WASHINGTON: A 27-year-old Apple software engineer has been outed as the unfortunate employee of the notoriously secretive company who left behind an iPhone prototype in a California beer garden.

Technology blog Gizmodo purchased the next-generation iPhone from an unnamed person who was also at the Redwood City bar that night and revealed details of how the device came to be in its possession.

Gizmodo editorial director Brian Lam also said Apple wants the phone back.

He published a letter sent by Apple's legal department Monday asking that the device be returned.

"It has come to our attention that Gizmodo is currently in possession of a device that belongs to Apple," said the letter signed by Bruce Sewell, Apple's senior vice president and general counsel.

"This letter constitutes a formal request that you return the device to Apple," the letter said. "Please let me know where to pick up the unit."

Lam also published his reply telling Apple the phone "was burning a hole in our pockets" and Gizmodo would be "happy to have you pick this thing up."

"I'm happy to see it returned to its rightful owner," Lam wrote.

"Take it easy on the kid who lost it," he added.

Gizmodo identified the "kid" as an Apple software engineer named Gray Powell, a 2006 graduate of North Carolina State University.

The technology blog said Powell was sampling the wares at the Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Apple headquarters in Cupertino, on the night of March 18.

Gizmodo said Powell forgot the prototype phone, which had been disguised to resemble the previous model iPhone, the iPhone 3GS, on a bar stool when he left the establishment.

His last Facebook update according to Gizmodo: "I underestimated how good German beer is."

Efforts to track down Powell's Facebook profile were unsuccessful on Tuesday although a slew of fake accounts have been created on the social network in his name including a "Drunk Gray Powell" profile and a "My Sympathies, Gray Powell" page.

Gizmodo said the phone ended up with a person who had been sitting next to Powell at the bar after no one else claimed it.

"Weeks later, Gizmodo got it," the technology blog said without providing further details.

Gizmodo also said it held a brief telephone conversation with Powell about giving him back his phone. "He sounded tired and broken," Gizmodo said.

"Knowing how ferocious and ruthless Apple is about product leaks, those beers may have turned out to be the bitterest of his life," the blog said.

The comments section on Gizmodo, meanwhile, was deluged with messages from users urging Apple chief executive Steve Jobs not to fire Powell and criticism of the technology blog for identifying the engineer publicly.

"Releasing his name was uncalled for. Stay class, Gizmodo," wrote Aaron Leibowitz.

According to Gizmodo, features of the new phone, expected to be released later this year, include a front-facing video camera for video chat, a flash and an improved regular camera with a larger lens.

It also has a flat back instead of curved back, is thinner than the 3GS, is three grams heavier and has a battery that is 16 percent larger.

Iceland Volcano Cloud Brings European Air Chaos

REYKJAVIK: A volcanic eruption in Iceland fired ash across northern Europe forcing the closure of huge swathes of international airspace on Thursday which grounded hundreds of flights.

The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southeast Iceland had already melted part of a surrounded glacier causing severe floods. More than 700 people were evacuated from their homes.

A huge cloud of ash from the second major eruption in Iceland in less than a month blew eastwards across the Atlantic, closing major airports more than 1,000 miles (1,700 kilometres) away.

Britain closed its airspace to all flights. Nearly every airport in Norway, Denmark and across northern Sweden also shut down, authorities announced. There was major disruption in Belgium, France, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands.

More than 300 flights out of London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and others in Britain were cancelled, including transatlantic services.

British airport operator BAA said: "Following advice from the Met Office, the National Air Traffic Service has introduced restrictions to UK airspace this morning as a result of volcanic ash drifting across the United Kingdom from Iceland."

Many flights from the rest of Europe to North America would have to be rerouted because they normally go through British airspace, officials said.

The ash was about five-six miles (eight-10 kilometres) in the air and could not been seen from the ground. But experts said it was a danger to jet engines and restricted visibility.

Icelandic airports remained open as wind was blowing ash away from the island.

"Flights to and from Iceland are still ok. The wind is blowing the ash to the east," Hjordis Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic Airport Authority told AFP.

"It's amazing really," she said. "Things here should be fine for the next 12 hours at least, and we think probably all day, judging from the weather forecast."

The volcano on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland erupted just after midnight on Wednesday.

Smoke coming out of the top crater stacked more than 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) into the sky, meteorologists said. Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that a 500-metre fissure had appeared at the top of the crater on Wednesday.

Lava melted the glacier, causing major flooding which forced the evacuation of between 700 and 800 people. Evacuees were being directed to Red Cross centres.

"We have two heavy floods coming out from the melting of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier," police spokesman Roegnvaldur Olafsson told AFP from near the site of the eruption late Wednesday.

The eruption in a remote area about 125 kilometres (75 miles) east of Reykjavik was bigger than the blast at the nearby Fimmvorduhals volcano last month.

"It is very variable how long these eruptions last. Anywhere from a few days to over a year," Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil protection advisor in Iceland, told AFP.

"Judging from the intensity of this one, it could last a long time," he added.

Olafur Eggertsson said he had been forced to evacuate his farm, which lies in the path of one of two large floods of melt water coming from the glacier.

"At around 10:30 this morning we heard a lot of noise and saw mud and soil suddenly rushing down from the mountain. Just 30 minutes later we had mud and soil and a giant flood running into our dyke above the farm," Eggertsson told AFP.

"So in just a half hour, mud and soil came cascading down the mountain, down to our farm and on to the national highway that lies just beneath our farm. That is a total of four kilometres (2.5 miles) in just 30 minutes," he said.

His family left all their animals behind in the rush to escape.

"We have 200 animals on our farm: cows and sheep who are all inside now. It takes some time for the dykes to be destroyed and I don't know yet if they are in danger, but we are extremely worried," he said.

Last month, the first volcano eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier since 1823 -- and Iceland's first since 2004 -- briefly forced 600 people from their homes in the same area.

That eruption at the Fimmvorduhals volcano, which gushed lava for weeks, ended Tuesday, experts said.

Woman 'gets Chinese accent after bad migraine'

LONDON (AFP) – A Plymouth woman has suddenly started speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering a severe migraine, she said in comments quoted by local media Tuesday.

Sarah Colwill believes she has Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) which has caused her distinctive West Country drawl to be replaced with a Chinese twang, even though she has never even visited the country.

The 35-year-old from is now undergoing speech therapy following an acute form of migraine last month which reportedly left her with a form of brain damage.

"I moved to Plymouth when I was 18 months old so I have always spoken like a local. But following one attack, an ambulance crew arrived and they said I definitely sounded Chinese," she said.

"I spoke to my stepdaughter on the phone from hospital and she didn't recognise who I was. She said I sounded Chinese. Since then, I have had my friends hanging up on me because they think I'm a hoax caller."

Colwill added: "The first few weeks of the accent was quite funny but to think I am stuck with this Chinese accent is getting me down. My voice has started to annoy me now. It is not my voice."

FAS has been documented around the world and is usually linked to a stroke or traumatic brain injury. It was first recorded in the early 20th century and there are thought to be only a couple of dozen sufferers around the world.

QAFILAH KONVOI 2010

17 Bahaya Lidah

1. Kita akan terdorong untuk bercakap perkara yang tidak berfaedah.

2. Kita akan suka berlebih-lebihan ketika bercakap dan berkata-kata.

3. Adakalanya kita bercakap perkara yang tidak benar, berbohong sedikit.

4. Lidah menjadi penyebab akan berlaku pertengkaran.

5. Satu perkataan dari lidah kita boleh menyebabkan permusuhan dari kata kata pedas yang tidak disengajakan

6. Kita akan suka bermanis mulut untuk menunjuk-nunjuk.

7. Mengeluarkan bahasa kesat (memaki hamun).

8. Gemar menyumpah-nyumpah (melaknat orang yang seagama dan sebangsa).

9. Bernyanyi lagu yang melalaikan kita dari melakukan ibadah.

10.Terlalu banyak bergurau dan bersenda.

11.Suka menghina orang lain.

12.Menyebarkan rahsia.

13.Berjanji lalu mendustai janji itu.

14.Akan mengumpat walaupun perkara remeh apalagi perkara berat.

15.Mengadu-ngadu pada orang lain hingga terjadi perang dingin.

16.Menjadi talam dua muka, menabur fitnah yang berbeza-beza pada orang berbeza.

17.Memuji yang melampau-lampau.

Apabila kita tidak mengawal kata-kata dan tidak menjaga setiap satu perkataan yang kita selalu ucapkan. Salah satu sebab mengapa ramai orang ditimpa masalah adalah kerana dari lidah mereka.

Kerana lidah, badan binasa. Kesannya, hidup kita binasa dan kemurkaan Allah turun kepada kita kerana kita menyakiti orang lain melalui lidah.

Kerana lidah yang selalu memaki-maki, menyumpah seranah, mentertawakan seseorang dan mengumpat-umpat, ramai di antara kita di timpa dengan masalah yang tak berkesudahan.

Masalah itu menjadi balasan Allah atas perbuatan kita kerana kita tidak menjaga lidah. Kita mungkin pernah mengumpat, memaki atau memarahi seseorang dengan teruk sekali. Kita tak pernah fikir balasan atas kata-kata kita itu.

Jika hidup Anda selalu bermasalah, inilah masanya Anda check lidah Anda dan perangai Anda.

Taiwan Singer Conjures Up Susan Boyle Comparisons

Lin Yu Chun - Amazing Grace & I Will Always Love You

TAIPEI, Taiwan – As a younger man, Taiwan's Lin Yu-chun sang for hours on end, trying to get his mind off the sneers he endured because of his portly figure.

The round-faced soprano with the bowl haircut never imagined his voice would one day transform him into an international sensation.

But now, he is being compared to Britan's Susan Boyle, the plain-looking 48-year-old who shot to stardom after singing "I Dreamed a Dream" on "Britain's Got Talent."

Lin's Whitney Houston-like rendition of "I Will Always Love You" on Taiwan's "Avenue to Stardom" talent show last Friday has already racked up some 1.3 million views on YouTube, and the number is climbing fast.

For the 24-year-old with the disparaging nickname of "Little Fatty," the event has been a life-changer.

"I now have more confidence in pursuing a singing career," Lin told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "You don't have to be a good-looking man or woman to succeed. Just be yourself and try your best."

Lin said he had long suffered from a lack of self-confidence because of his plain looks and rotund figure.

"Being fat draws a lot of mockery in our society," he said.

To cope with the pain of his exclusion, he locked himself in his room and sang along with the songs of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey.

But the artist who really grabbed him was Houston _ particularly the song "I Will Always Love You," from the soundtrack to the 1992 film "The Bodyguard."

"I played it again and again even though my parents couldn't stand it any more and asked me to stop," Lin said.

Lin has had a bumpy start to stardom.

After graduating from college last year, he failed to make much of an impression on another Taiwanese talent show, where judges criticized both his looks and his high-pitched voice.

"One said I should instead pursue the career of a comedian, and another questioned whether it was right for a man to sing soprano," he said.

Now all that is behind him.

"(The show) has reinvigorated me," he said.

Still, Lin said, he is doing his best not to let his new found fame go to his head.

"I'm trying not to be overwhelmed," he said.

Din Beramboi Meninggal Dunia

Allahyarham Mior Ahmad Fuad Mior Badri atau lebih dikenali sebagai Din Beramboi
--------------------------------------
KUALA LUMPUR 2 April - Pelawak popular dan penyampai radio Era, Mior Ahmad Fuad Mior Badri meninggal dunia di Hospital Selayang, lewat malam tadi.

Allahyarham yang dikenali sebagai Din Beramboi menghembuskan nafas terakhir di Unit Rawatan Rapi (ICU) pukul 12.30 malam.

Menurut adik Allahyarham, Rozana Mior Badri, semua ahli keluarga berada di sisi Allahyarham kecuali ayahnya yang tidak dapat hadir.

Katanya, Allahyarham meninggal dunia akibat demam denggi berdarah yang menyebabkan beberapa organ badannya gagal berfungsi.

‘‘Jenazah abang saya akan dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Taman Ehsan, Kepong di sini sebelum solat Jumaat,’’ katanya ketika ditemui di hospital itu, malam ini. - Utusan Online


http://jomss.blogspot.com/2010/03/terkini-din-beramboi-terkena-denggi-dan.html

Tom Jones Cancels His Rescheduled Concert @ RWS

SINGAPORE: Tom Jones has cancelled his rescheduled concert at Resorts World Sentosa citing throat problems.

He was supposed to perform on Thursday at 8pm.

He had cut short his performance after just two songs last Friday saying he was unwell.

There were about 4,000 fans in attendance last week.

The singer’s management said the 69—year—old singer would have risked permanent damage to his throat if he carried on with his concert on Thursday.

The management added that Mr Jones has been resting his voice all week in Singapore with regular checkups with local specialists but doctors are "nevertheless unable to guarantee that the singer would be able to perform the full show tonight at 100 per cent vocal strength."

Andrea Teo, vice president of Entertainment, Resorts World Sentosa, said,: "Resorts World Sentosa is naturally distressed by the latest cancellation of the concert. His management has just informed that Tom Jones is genuinely ill. He stayed behind in Singapore with the full intention to perform for his fans.

He was advised by his doctor only today against risking permanent loss of his vocals by staging the performance. We again apologise to our guests."

Organisers said full ticket refunds will be made available at the SISTIC Box Office located at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, from Friday onwards till April 18, Monday to Saturday from 11am to 8pm; Sunday and Public Holidays from 1pm to 7pm.

This will also include the SISTIC S$3 booking fee but organisers say that the S$1 handling fee will not be refunded.