It looks like my plan to make enough money to get a digital camera will not be in time for the Malaysian Chess Festival which will be starting in less than 2 weeks time. I’ll probably have to borrow one :(. If that fails, then I have no choice but use camera phones which the [...]

Not the usual blog post but an appeal to the chess community out there to help out.

It is feared up to 1 million people may have died in this disaster, and although this is disputed, if Nargis did kill this many people, it would be the deadliest cyclone ever recorded, and… Continue reading

I retested the modem by downloading a 44 Mb MP3 file to see how fast the download speeds are…

It’s still averaging 150Kb/s. It’s the same as the old TMNet Riger DB102 modem. So far I’m pretty happy with it.… Continue reading

It was raining heavily so like the rest of the PC Fair enthusiasts, I took the underground walkway to the KL Convention Centre from KLCC Suria shopping complex. Of course it’s crowded like crazy!
I was planning to take… Continue reading | 2 Comments

I’ve got two calls today and both involve a programming project. With the Selangor Open nearing, I was hoping to prepare my game so that I can get my first FIDE rating by next year - Selangor Open being the first rated event.
However if I accept any one of these projects, it means I’m busy [...]

Like everything taken to the extreme, there are health hazards if you spend too much time blogging.
According to an article in the New York Times on Sunday, contributed to an unhealthy lifestyle, so much so that it lead to the death of two well-known bloggers, Russell Shaw and Marc Orchant.
Both… Continue reading

The TMNet van stopped right outside my house and I was surprised as it was only 24 hours since I called their support. As you know from my previous post, my modem was fried. I take it back that they are slow. Seems like their service has improved tremendously.
 
However the bad… Continue reading | [...]

It’s depressing when I got back from the CAS allegro to find out my modem was dead. Since it just finished raining, I assume that it was struck by lightning. Silly me, I did not shut down the modem and router when I left for the tournament.
Now I have to buy another modem… [...]

Whew! I’ve been very busy programming the whole month and it feels good to be back in programming after 10 months layoff. It wasn’t easy relearning some things again.
Thankfully,today I just met one of the deadlines and gave myself a well deserved break.
What did I do to relax and take a break
Continue reading

First game online in Cameron Highlands since I came here last week ..Breakfast is simple Eggs with Mayo and barbeque sauce and Teh Tarik.Had this in Rosette Cafe which also has free WiFi… Continue reading

I’ve been working hard at creating new websites in Cameron Highlands and it’s incredible that I can sit in front of the notebook working 10 hours straight. Probably it’s the fresh air and weather here.Didn’t have time to work on my chess though ..After that it’s always some big feast of a dinner at my [...]

I really wanted to go for the Chess Masters tournament in Cochrane today but after a look at my desk, I’m going to take the whole day reorganising my things. What a mess!!
Also, I will be cleaning up on all my other blogs including looking at Stonemaster.biz bugs later today. There is also a ton [...]

After over 2 years of using the same theme, I’m changing the theme to the one you are seeing now. So how is it? Better?Less Ads!Also, in the past I went crazy with ads and had over 10 ad networks plastered all over the blog !! I have decided to reduce it to only 3 [...]

I definitely think so. Grandmasters nowadays can’t do without technology. Name me one present day professional GM that don’t use a computer for preparation?Even at club level, computers and technology play and important role in chess studies. Tactical exercises, player databases, chess videos, PDAs and notebooks are all essential for player’s developement other than having [...]

Date : 6th January 2008 (SUNDAY)Venue : The Chess Network, 2nd Floor Wilayah Kompleks, Jln.MunshiAbdullah, Kuala Lumpur.Entry fees :RM 20 (adult)RM 18 (stonemaster.biz member)RM 15 (under 12)* ALL PAYMENT TO BE MADE BEFORE 3rd JANUARY 2008*Categories:1) PRO : For players with National rating 1601 and above2) AMATEUR : For players with National rating 1600 and [...]

Not a good start for the new year because I had to go down to Perak after I got sad news that one of my uncles passed away in Teluk Intan. Also, my GilaChess.com domain expired on the same day so I did not have the time to renew it.
I just paid the hosting fees [...]

It’s exactly 20 hours now that I’m on my computer. The reason is because this blog and all my other websites on this domain was suspended for CPU overuse by Exabytes. I’m planning to make the upgrade but I won’t get the money until next week so I had to hunker down and reduce CPU [...]

One of the things that got my blood pressure up was not getting on the internet to do updates for the ASEAN+ tournament. There was a Starbucks just 5 minutes walk from the hotel but I didn’t have time to run across because I had to enter the scores of the games. That’s another big [...]

I did not fare so well in the CAS tourney last Sunday fininshing 3 / 7.Still I didn’t feel bad as it was nice to be around chess friends again. Had the opportunity to have lunch with Anthony and the eventual CAS champ - Ronnie Lim at Buharry Restaurant. I recommend this place for lunch [...]

It was unfortunate to see last minute cancellation of foreign teams due to unforseen circumstances. It would have made the event even more successful than it already was. Still, for the very first edition of the ASEAN+ Youth Team Chess Championships, I think it was a major success. Getting in the Ministry of Education and [...]