Simply Whack!

Why accountants don’t run startups sllc

2010-06-03T12:09:00.001+08:00

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Why accountants don’t run startups sllc

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Bagaimana Urine Anda Hari Ini ?

2009-11-12T22:21:00.002+08:00

During a visit to a factory in Jakarta, I visited their toilet. The company makes automobile steel parts for Japanese customers. They are one of the most successful vendors in Indonesia that have adopted quality control, Kanban, and other Japanese manufacturing methods. This extends to their toilets. Enjoy!

State of the Internet Operating System

2009-11-06T09:42:00.001+08:00

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State of the Internet Operating System

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Amazon Kindle in Malaysia

2009-10-30T08:32:00.002+08:00

Yes, it does work here!

I was able to get Amazon to deliver to me a Kindle International unit to me while I was in USA during the launch on 19 Oct.

If you browse the Kindle website you will get this message when choosing Malaysia:

Malaysia
Unfortunately, we are currently unable to ship Kindles or offer Kindle content in Malaysia.

I shall not post a review of the Kindle device itself, there are many online. Suffice to say , it is a nice device and does what it says it does, and does it well. And it has a few surprises.

Amazon originally billed USD279 for the device plus free shipping, but then refunded USD20 after they lowered the prices after shipping the device. I received it in Miami on Fri 23 Oct.

The device powered up nicely but I was unable to see any books, magazines or periodicals for sale. I thought this was due to some congestion or all the new users logging in simultaneously. What happens is that Amazon offers stuff to you based upon your residency. I guess that the way these things are sold worldwide are on a territorial basis. So Amazon have different offerings and pricing for different locations around the world. Just as they will not deliver a kindle to Malaysia, if you are registered in Amazon as being in Malaysia then the store offers you zilch. So , you need to update your location on the Amazon kindle website as being in USA. Once i did that I was able to see the 367,940 books available, browse internet (yes an experiment)

So using the device worked in the USA.

During the flight to Kuala Lumpur, we transit in Taipei.

The kindle works on the GSM system. It finds a GSM network itself and you are online. So it was online in Taipei. It just does it itself, like a good phone will. In Taipei I got several messages which advised me to pay USD4.99 per week to get unlimited deliveries while travelling overseas. So if you want to be super mobile and get stuff anywhere, there is a cost for being outside the USA. However Kindle stores any items online and you plug into a computer through a USB device and download any item via the internet.

I have been getting daily copies of the Wall Street Journal and reading it on the kindle daily.

The power is 110-240V and also powers from the USB.

So, in summary. You can use the KIndle International in Malaysia. You need work out how to deliver it to a US address (australia works too) and change your location to USA to be delivered stuff online, or pay more for wireless delivery.

One caveat, the nook has been announced by Barnes and Noble. It will be launched in Nov 09. I sam copies of the brochure at a Barnes & Noble store in Los Angeles and it looks very nice, including a colour portion of the screen and touch screen as oppose to the Kindle QWERTY keys.

It looks good.

Google G1 Android Developer Phone in Malaysia

2009-06-27T00:06:00.005+08:00

Google G1 Android Developer Phone in Malaysia

2009-06-26T20:18:00.002+08:00

Google Android Phone in Malaysia

2009-06-26T18:29:00.007+08:00

Google gave me a phone when i attended Wherecamp 09 at Palo Alto in May 2009. They distributed phones to some attendees who promised to develop android applications and blog about the experience. I understand it is the HTC G1, the first android phone.

When the keyboard is opened it looks like this

Looks like this when carrying around.

err, the android application is in development. So i thought i better summarize how well the phone works in Malaysia.

The phone is a developer model, so comes unlocked and not with a plan, which is how the phone is sold in USA, and as i understand how Celcom plan to roll out the model here, similar to the Maxis roll out of the iphone in Malaysia.

When i put my Celcom SIM card in the phone in the USA, it did not connect to the network. Back in Malaysia, it immediately found the network and connected ok.

I previously used a Nokia E61 with a Celcom mobile broadband plan. I also carried a Palm Zire22 with my contacts and an ipod touch with the calender syncing virtually with Google calender.

Now i have just the G1. I never worked how to transfer contacts from the Palm OS to the Nokia, but it was really simple to export to a VCF file which was imported into Google Contacts in Google mail.

When the phone starts you login to your google account and presto all your gmail, calender and contacts are there. Cool. If you are in outlook or office mail systems, i guess that will take more work.

The android market is not as happening as the iphone applications but there are enough to keep me happy.

Google Maps works great. It finds your present location fast and accurately. Glympse works well also. The google maps were more detailed than Tele Atlas on the Garmin, when i travelled last weekend from JB to Kuantan via Mersing, endau, Rompin, Pekan etc. I got the maps live with Celcom 3G, no problems.

Twitgo for twitter and Facebook applications are ok, maybe not as rich as the iphone applications, but sufficient.

Barcode scanning, GPS applications , and a few games the kids downloaded all work fine.

Major Issue: Battery life... Heavy usage drains the battery. I have not got through 24 hours without recharging. Luckily the charge is a mini USB port so i steal the Garmin charger in the car. The provide a AC adaptor with European round plugs, and a USB cable so you could charge from a notebook.

MInor Issue: There is only one USB mini port and the headphones use the same port. So if you are driving in the car you can either charge the device OR use the headphones to speak hands free, not both at the same time.

This phone has attracted attention from nerds and geeks. It is for techies. If you like style then the iphone is for you. I do not listen to music so i cannot talk about the itunes capability. If you are a heavy email user, manage calender and contacts and twitter and facebook then this is a good alternative.

I have laboured with multiple devices for many years. This is one great machine that cuts down the excess baggage.

You can really leave town without the notebook.

Part 3 of 3 Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia

2008-11-24T19:03:00.001+08:00

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Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia Presented on Sat 22 Nov 2008 at startupcampkl gewmalaysia

Part 3 of 3

Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia Part 2 of 3

2008-11-24T14:14:00.001+08:00

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Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia Presented on Sat 22 Nov 2008 at startupcampkl gewmalaysia

Part 2 of 3

Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia Part 1 of 3

2008-11-24T14:13:00.001+08:00

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Richard Abas 45 year review of Technopreneurs in Malaysia presented on Sat 22 Nov 2008 at startupcampkl gewmalaysia.

Part 1 of 3

startup KL GEWMalaysia

2008-11-22T07:56:00.001+08:00

45 Year Review Of Technopreneurs In Malaysia Start Up Camp KL Gewmalaysia

From: razlan,
20 minutes ago

45 Year Review Of Technopreneurs In Malaysia Start Up Camp KL Gewmalaysia

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Richard Abas 45 Year Review Of Technopreneurs In Malaysia Start Up Camp KL Gewmalaysia

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Richard Abas innotech kl

2008-11-19T07:48:00.001+08:00

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Richard Abas presentation

45 years of Technopreneurs in Malaysia

Social Entrepreneurship - The Hot Spots & Funding Trends, addressing the Global economic crisis via technology

innotech kl organised by MDeC as part of Global Entrepreneurship week

17 Nov 2008

Richard Abas innotech kl

2008-11-19T07:47:00.001+08:00

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Richard Abas presentation

45 years of Technopreneurs in Malaysia

Social Entrepreneurship - The Hot Spots & Funding Trends, addressing the Global economic crisis via technology

innotech kl organised by MDeC as part of Global Entrepreneurship week

17 Nov 2008

Alternative CV

2008-11-03T10:51:00.000+08:00

Richard is a serial startup junkie.

He left a safe normal career in Finance and Accounting in 1996 to join a bunch of guys to start up an internet business. Netscape had recently listed and this thing called the internet looked kinda interesting. After a few months he concluded that the business was going nowhere and he went back to a safe normal job in 1997. The bunch of guys continued and today call themselves Jobstreet.com Lesson number 1. You make mistakes.

While he was working his safe normal job he managed to get state government funds to build an internet incubation centre. It was called Johor Incubation Centre, jic.net.my. It helped young people create business plans for internet based and technology ideas. JIC launched in 1999 at about the time of the dotcom boom and at one stage, valued itself at RM100m. Lesson number 2. It is a very great danger when you believe your own bulls***. He closed JIC.net in 2002 shortly before his contract expired. Lesson number 3. Even safe normal jobs are not.

Having not much to do and being rather impossible to hire he helped a bunch of guys start a software company. IKCM (Integrated Knowledge and Campus Management Sdn Bhd) today produces ERP systems for Universities. www.ikcm.com.my IKCM has made a lot of money and lost a lot of money. Lesson number 4. Listen to your wife.

He helped some friends build an internet stock exchange for high quality wristwatches. He travelled frequently to London and Geneva. www.twr6060.com failed spectacularly and burned a lot of resources.

In 2003 he got a grant from Cradle www.cradle.com.my and set out to build an Online Company Secretarial System www.sdnbhd.net.my. It failed to launch and has now morphed into www.berhad.net Berhad.net is currently being developed on dot.net and hopes to launch in the first quarter of 2009.

In 2004 he assisted some friends list on Mesdaq. He owns about 5% of www.tmsasia.com He is still working out what lesson this will teach.

In 2005 he helped some Australian friends to build an accounting outsourcing business in Cyberjaya to service accounting firms in Australia. www.macqos.com.au This was sold in 2006 to MYOB.

In 2006 he became a Cartographer and applied for a patent to convert latitude and longitude to a single string. He is now trying to change the world's postcode. Some people are concerned that he has gone completely mad. Proof of this is www.geotude.com and www.ziptu.de

In 2007 he started an outfit; Ruby on Rails Sdn Bhd and renamed the holding company as Web 2.0 Sdn Bhd. If you do not understand the significance of both these names, then it really does not matter. It is still too early for any lessons from this. In any case Richard is quite beyond salvage and not much can help anymore.

Appointment to Tracoma Board of Directors

2008-11-03T10:40:00.000+08:00

Announcement to the Stock exchange.
This is a requirement when there is a change of the composition of the Directors of the Board of a listed company.

Company Name :TRACOMA HOLDINGS BERHAD
Stock Name :TRACOMA
Date Announced :31/10/2008

Date of change :31/10/2008
Type of change :Appointment
Designation :Non-Executive Director
Directorate :Independent & Non Executive
Name :Richard George Azlan Abas
Age :45
Nationality :Malaysian
Qualifications :En Richard George Azlan Abas graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia in 1984. He attended the Management Development Program at the Asian Institute of Management, Manila in 1995. He is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.

Working experience and occupation :Richard articled with Arthur Andersen & Co from 1984 to 1989 and served Arab-Malaysian Corporation Berhad from 1990 to 1996. He was Group Chief Executive of YPJ (Johor Education Foundation) Holdings Sdn Bhd from 1997 to 2002 and is currently Managing Partner of Azlan & Co, Chartered Accountants.

Presently, he sits on the Board of Silver Bird Group Berhad.
Directorship of public companies (if any) :Silver Bird Group Berhad
Family relationship with any director and/or major shareholder of the listed issuer
:He has no family relationship with any director and/or major shareholder of the Company.
Details of any interest in the securities of the listed issuer or its subsidiaries
:N/A

Remarks

© 2008, Bursa Malaysia Berhad. All Rights Reserved.

Simply Whack

2008-04-09T19:26:00.000+08:00

Simply Whack!

This is the answer to the question; "What is SW?"

We love this question.

It is usually asked after we impress someone with the following line; "We have a sophisticated methodology, SW Theory"

This was taught to me, by my then Boss, at Amcorp (now AmcorpGroup Berhad), Jimmy Lim (now Dato'). We were a bunch of corporate cowboys, trying to impress everyone and no one with our technical and financial engineering skills.

In the following posts I hope to relive moments and events from a career, still unfolding, as a guy still trying to work out what he would like to do when he grows up.