Hovering Bike - modern magic carpet

Hover Bike by Aerofex - Video

There are many names for these machine, among them Flying Platform, Flying Skateboard, Hoverboard, Hover Bike and Modern Magic Carpet ?-))

There are all work base on the same principle. A powerful downward force produce by air thrusting from two rotating blades or jet engine to lift the vehicle. The tricky part is how to keep the vehicle balanced once it is airborne. And how to stir it in the direction you want to go.

Interestingly, the driver (or pilot) can control it by simply tilting his body in the direction he wants to go. While since it uses our body's own balance for control, I guess strictly no drink and drive on this one. Can you imagine the balancing effect ;-)))

The hover bike (lets just call it hover bike for now, since most of these vehicles being demonstrated carry only one person) is not something new. Seems like the US army has been experimenting with it for long but don't find them suitable for combat use yet.

But how about adopting it for civilian use? I guess, the vehicle got to fulfilled at least these three requirements prior to public use. First, it should be within the price range of the masses, second, the controls have be simpler for layman use, third, it must be able to carry some loads. While, just like conventional vehicles, I guess the hover vehicle can be made in various capacities too. Maybe measure by the weight it can lift?

X-Jet Demo Video

The model created by Williams International called X-Jet is very impressive in terms of control as demonstrated in this video. But this one uses a mini jet engine that can speed up to 100km/h.

All other models are using propellers, which is more suitable for civilians use. But only X-Jet's control look smooth so far.

Hopefully it will be made to run on batteries. Since moving forward, almost all civilian vehicles will be running on electricity. Better focus R&D resources on electric motor and battery not fossil fuel engines.

Practical Usefulness
A hover transport vehicle will be especially useful and practical in places where it is difficult to built road or too remote a place to built one to. And it is good for the environment too, since there is no need to fall trees or lay concrete to built road and bridges. And it can travel on all surface, rocky, wet, muddy, flood, river or sand. Lets hope this technology will become reality very soon.

I am imagining travelling into some deep forest settlements in Sarawak. I suppose I can reach a place faster than four wheel cars.

Hopefully engineers will also figure out how to reduce dust, especially for urban use :-)

Here are some videos of earlier attempts at land hovering vehicles:-

• First Flying Platform - 1955 Hover Board
• A prototype by Polish
• Hummingbird Flying Platform

Unit Trust Statistic in Malaysia

Here is the statistic for private unit trust companies in  Malaysia as of 31-May-2012. Once again and still Public Mutual Berhad way ahead in the industry in term of managed fund size and market share.

Boab Lullaby - Australia

Australia, a beautiful movie with multi layered stories which include World War II, Bombing of Darwin, monopoly of cattle business, the "Stolen Generation" half-Aboriginal children, a love story...etc. The breathtaking sceneries and sound tracks. You can get more details about the movie at Wikipedia Australia (2008 film).

This post is about a soundtrack from the movie called Boab Lullaby (or First Kiss), what a beautiful piece of music. And there is the ukulele tune played at the beginning and end of the sound track. It was played few times in the movie during quiet moments of the story.

Many suggest that Boab Lullaby is actually only the ukulele part of the sound track. The whole sound track itself is called "First Kiss". But I don't see "First Kiss" listed among the sound tracks from the movie. It is all confusing.

"First Kiss" sound track from Australia (2008 Film)

And Boab Lullaby itself is said to be originated from the song Such Great Height by Iron and Wine. I tried strumming it on ukulele and it does sound similar.

Here is a link to a version of the Such Great Height played plucked on guitar. Here is the chord for ukulele version. Try it yourself.

Anyway, I enjoyed both the movie and sound tracks. Hope you enjoy them too... :-)

Public Growth Fund - PGF - 2012

The Public Growth Fund launched in about 28 years ago in 1984 is considered a very stable fund with long history of good performance. This financial year however, the performance is not in par with funds in similar category.

This is suspected partly due to the fund's exposure of about 20% into China market. The fund"s objective is to achieve long term capital appreciation with income considered incidental. As such a single financial years performance can not be the measure to it's long term objective.

Here is the fund review for Public Growth Fund for second quarter of year 2012.

Public Growth Fund (PGF)

Mars exploration, another giant leap for mankind

First image by Curiosity from Mars 

Mars exploration and understanding Curiosity's "Seven Minutes of Terror".

The Curiosity rover landed succesfully on Planet Mars at 10:32 p.m. PDT Sunday August 5 (1:32 a.m. EDT; 0532 GMT Monday August 6). And beam back first picture of the surface of Mars with the rover's shadow.

The NASA's mission to send a robotic rover named Curiosity to planet Mars was a success with the help from thousands of scientist from around the world. Another big step forward in space exploration for mankind.

Imagine the science and technology know how needed to send and land a rover on a planet which is about 225 million km away from Earth and with harsh climate. How about controlling the craft from Earth? A radio signal send from Earth takes about 14 minutes to travel the distance to Mars.

The most challenging part of the mission was the landing. Descending to Mars's surface from speed of 13,000mph to 0mph within 7 minutes from the moment the space craft  first touch Mars atmosphere. The craft have to land itself as programmed to do. The crew is unable make adjustment for any unforeseen circumstances. Since it takes 14 minutes for signal to reach Earth, by the time the crew get the news that the craft touched Mars atmosphere, it may already have landed or crashed. Nasa called this "7 Minutes of Terror". Watch this video to appreciate it.

Dividend for Financial Year 31-July-2012

Public Mutual Berhad declared dividend for financial year ending 31 July 2012 for 9 unit trust funds.

Fund Name	Code	Distribution		Growth %
		Cent	%
Public Growth Fund	PGF	3.00	6.22	-9.83
Public Australia Equity Fund	PAUEF	0.50	1.93	-3.11
Public Optimal Growth Fund	POGF	1.25	1.08	9.09
Public Far-East Property & Resorts Fund	PFEPRF	0.50	2.21	9.28
Public Islamic Opportunities Fund	PIOF	2.25	6.56	7.27
Public Islamic Select Enterprises Fund	PISEF	2.00	4.93	10.93
Public Bond Fund	P BOND	5.25	5.02	6.54
Public Islamic Select Bond Fund	PISBF	5.00	4.69	5.26
Public Islamic Income Fund	PI INCOME	3.50	3.24	5.02

Somewhere Over The Rainbow on Ukulele

I think the best version of this beautiful song played on Ukulele is by Israel IZ Kamakawiwo, a Hawaiian.

Ukulele is a small guitar shape instrument but with only 4 strings. It produce a happy and warm sound when strummed. Good for playing and sing along.  Popularly associated with Hawaiian culture and songs.

You can of course play any songs with the ukulele (or uke). The small size also make it convenient to bring along and played during outdoor activities like camping.

The best and simple chords for this song I found so far was at ukulelehunt.com. This site got plenty of ukulele songs with chords and tabs, so do browse around. Here is the direct link to the pdf file for somewhere over the rainbow.

For the strumming pattern, watch the video to get an idea. Ultimately, use any strumming pattern that you enjoy and feel comfortable.

Happy strumming!... :-)

Politicians Are Like Diaper

They should be changed often for the same reason... :-))