Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by stix

[WTS] Genuine OEM Panerai Croc Strap

stix — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 11:13:19 +0800

Item(s): Genuine OEM Panerai Croc Strap in Semimat Black

Package includes: Strap only

Price: RM950

Warranty: -

Dealing method: COD, PosLaju

Location of seller: Penang

Contact method/details: PM

Age of item: New

---

Item(s) conditions: Brand new, taken out from a new PAM321

Picture:

Reason for sale: Using aftermarket straps.

JAG Berhad

stix — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 17:00:21 +0800

Anyone here in this counter? A good one to monitor and to go in now. News have it that it plans to be in the main board by year end.

http://klse.i3investor.com/quoteservlet.jsp?sa=ss&q=0024

The dog licks his own sh1t.

stix — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 20:56:10 +0800

Ahli Parlimen Umno mohon maaf atas kenyataan terhadap Karpal

Datuk Nawawi Ahmad meminta maaf di laman Facebooknya atas kenyataan yang dibuat terhadap kematian Karpal Singh.

Ahli Parlimen Umno dari Langkawi, Datuk Nawawi Ahmad, yang mencetuskan kontroversi baru-baru ini di laman sosial dengan kenyataan sensitif berhubung kematian Karpal Singh, akhirnya memohon maaf.

"Saya ingin menzahirkan perasaan kesal dan sesal saya atas perkara yang berlaku dua hari lepas berhubung tulisan di laman Facebook peribadi saya berkaitan kejadian yang menimpa mendiang Karpal Singh.

"Tiada kata-kata yang dapat menggambarkan betapa kesalnya saya, dan betapa perlunya saya meminta maaf kepada keluarga mendiang YB Karpal Singh dan semua orang yang saya singgung dengan tulisan yang cuai dan sia-sia itu," status Facebook terbaru Nawawi dipetik.

Setelah Karpal terlibat dalam kemalangan jalan raya pada Khamis, Nawawi mengirim gambar di Facebook daripada kemalangan itu beserta keratan akhbar lama dengan petikan Karpal yang berkata "langkah mayatnya dahulu sebelum mewujudkan negara Islam".

Kiriman itu turur diikuti dengan status Nawawi tertukis, "Siapa nak sahut cabaran Karpal Singh. Sila bagi nama". – 19 April, 2014.

Proton Tongkat

stix — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 14:23:44 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton has emerged as a major winner after forcing the government to make a last minute U-turn to allow the national carmaker to continue supplying official vehicles to the federal government to replace the aging Proton Perdana Executive and Inspira series.

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...roton-pressure/

The government had originally agreed in July this year to replace the Perdana Executive and Inspira fleet with the Honda Accord series.
Honda Accord was picked following Proton’s inability to come up with a model to replace the out-of-production Perdana series. Letters to that effect had been sent out to all government agencies and ministers. In fact, Honda has been notified of the immediate purchase of 350 Accords – the 2013 models which were launched early this month.
However on Monday, Sept 9, Proton managed to convince Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to allow Proton to continue supplying its models to the federal government. The speed in which this decision was made has baffled Putrajaya officials and industry players.
According to government sources, the Proton high-level management team had called for a meeting with the National Economic Advisory Council on Monday to put forward their proposals on their readiness to supply the official fleet. The meeting was chaired by Najib.
According to the people-in-the-know, Proton informed the economic council and Najib that it was ready with a new model which could be used for the official government fleet, and that the delivery could be made as early as next January.
On Tuesday, a team of high ranking government officials made a visit to Proton to inspect the prototype vehicle, coming back highly convinced of the model.
On Wednesday, Najib informed the cabinet that the earlier decision to replace the Perdana Executive and Inspira series with Honda Accord had been cancelled, and that Proton would be delivering its models for the government fleet.
Sources said Najib had said that the decision was made as “it was the government’s duty to protect Proton”. This was reminiscent of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s defence of Proton in the past. Proton is Mahathir’s brainchild and he continues to serve as the carmaker’s advisor.
Industry players claimed that Proton managed to outmuscle the government on this matter by using the influence of Proton’s godfather Mahathir and business tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al- Bukhary, whose company DRB-Hicom took over Proton in 2012. Interestingly DRB-Hicom also has a joint venture manufacturing collaboration with Honda.
FMT also learnt that Mahathir had met Najib personally on this matter.
Questions persist on Proton’s ability
Although Proton has managed to keep its hold to supply the government vehicles, questions still remain on its ability to deliver as promised.
“Proton has failed to introduce a proper replacement model for the Perdana series all these years. And now it has promised the government to deliver a new model by the beginning of next year.
“What is of concern is, how can they come up with a model so quickly when six months ago they were clueless, to the extent of allowing the government to look at Honda?”
“Now, suddenly their R&D work is complete, and they have a prototype. Even then, can they start their manufacturing line quick enough to supply the vehicles to the government over the next four years?,” asked an industry expert.
“What about doing the roadworthiness tests and other inspections on the new model? Do they have the time for this?”
He also asked if Proton had its own engines to fit the models, or if they would be tapping into someone else’s product.
“Would the final product be a unit which, say, belongs to Honda, an engine from someone else, but is passed off as a Proton model?”
“If that’s the case, the only work Proton would be doing is to assemble the units, fit in the engines, do some cosmetic works, and put its badge before delivering them to the government,” he speculated.
Another industry oldtimer said that the whole scheme appeared as though the government was only interested in bailing out Syed Mokhtar and Proton.
“It does not make any sense. Why would Najib agree to this last minute flip-flop? Why not proceed with the Honda Accord models as planned, and when Proton is eventually ready with its own models, the government can then use the Proton models,” he said.
“This is a false sense of nationalism, saying that the government was duty-bound to support Proton,” he said.
He speculated that in the end, even if Proton was unable to deliver the vehicles next January, DRB- Hicom would be in a position to marry the Proton brand name and the available Honda Accord models for delivery.
“At the end of the day, it all looks like Proton wanting to keep its name as the government’s official fleet supplier. Obviously the benefits are huge for them to go to this level to convince the government to continue backing them,” he said.
An official announcement on the decision to use Proton models as official government vehicles is expected to be announced soon.

Dental Composite Veneer

stix — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 11:50:59 +0800

Anyone from Penang has good experience with dentist with good composite veneers skills?
Thanks in advance

Hover Hands

stix — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:35:16 +0800

I'm pretty sure 80% of the posters here are faggots/virgins, considering the way they type and argue in here. Therefore, it's no surprise that most of them do this in real life, provided they had the chance to even get close to a woman, besides their mother.

Finally, the ultimate hover L-hand

Myvi will be lowered to RM30k!

stix — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:16:22 +0800

QUOTE

The government, in its election campaign, had pledged to reduce car prices by 20% to 30%, and in a recent tweet, PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak reiterated that car prices will be reduced in stages till 2017. Now, market leader Perodua has come out in support of the initiative.

“In fact we have been engaged with the government, through MITI and MAI over the last two years in giving our inputs for the revision of the NAP which we understand will be announced in due course,” Perodua president and CEO, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh said.

Aminar added that the gradual reduction would allow the automotive eco-system, which includes manufacturers, vendors, authorised dealers, the used car market, consumers and other stakeholders, much needed time to adjust. “As one of the largest local carmakers, Perodua sees great value in a gradual liberalisation and this will also help us in being prepared for when the market fully opens,” he added.

Perodua says that since its inception 20 years ago, the company has provided jobs plus business opportunities to about 70,000 people throughout its entire eco-system. Currently, P2 has about 109 local vendors and 272 local sales/service dealers and other service providers under its wing, and will be purchasing RM4 billion in parts this year from local vendors. “The result of this extended eco-system, Perodua has sold some 2.2 million vehicles over our 20-year history,” Aminar said.

On Perodua’s efforts to further reduce its prices, Aminar pointed to the recently launched S Series. “We are not only repositioning the price downwards, we added more features and gave three-year free service to all our models. The value we bring to the customers ranges from RM4,500 to RM5,600,” he said.

“We will continue to produce and market affordable vehicles with quality, taking into consideration the total cost of ownership. Our most affordable variant is priced at RM25,000 – the lowest in the country,” he stressed.

Perodua describes the S-Series as its “most value-for-money variant” so far, with added equipment over the phased-out variants but at no extra cost to the customer – click here for full details, specs and prices.

Meanwhile, why the silence from Proton's side? They don't encourage price reduction? Hmm. Back to perodua, if they are able to rebadge a nicely designed Viva, and sell it at only RM20k, it will be the next Tata Nano of Malaysia. Fresh graduates no longer have to worry about owning a car with pathetic 9 year loans.

For the love of Proton.

stix — Wed, 29 May 2013 11:43:14 +0800

Wall of text. Proceed only if you want to.

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Personally, i don't care if car prices go down or go up. Life still goes on. What i hate is my money being thrown to protect those metal junks roaming the street called Proton.

Everyone can buy their dream car soon

stix — Tue, 28 May 2013 00:34:59 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR - Kerajaan mungkin mengambil masa yang lebih lama untuk menurunkan harga kereta memandangkan langkah itu boleh menjejaskan penguasaan pasaran Proton, kata JF Apex Securities.

Dalam nota hari ini, firma penyelidikan itu berkata kajian daya maju perlu dilakukan untuk melihat impak keseluruhan bagi mengelak gangguan ke atas ekosistem automotif negara.

"Kami tidak menjangkakan perubahan dalam tempoh beberapa bulan akan datang, sementara menunggu perkembangan terkini semakan ke atas Dasar Automotif Negara," kata JF Apex.

Kerajaan berjanji menurunkan harga kereta antara 20 peratus dan 30 peratus sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13.

JF Apex berkata pasaran kereta terpakai akan teruk terjejas jika harga kereta dikurangkan antara 20 peratus dan 30 peratus menerusi pengurangan duti eksais antara 75 peratus dan 105 peratus, yang menyumbang kepada sebahagian besar harga kereta.

"Pengurangan harga kereta akan mengurangkan insentif untuk menjual kereta terpakai memandangkan nilai kereta terpakai jatuh teruk," katanya.

Pada masa yang sama, kata firma penyelidikan itu motivasi untuk membeli kereta baharu adalah lebih tinggi memandangkan harga yang murah terutama bagi pembeli kali pertama Model Segmen B.

Bagaimanapun, minat tidak akan sama bagi pemilik kereta sedia ada yang mahu menjual kereta lama untuk membiayai kereta baharu.

"Namun impak pasaran kereta terpakai terkawal, memandangkan kerajaan tidak akan membenarkan perubahan drastik dalam sekelip mata kerana ini akan memberi kesan kepada industri automotif secara keseluruhan," kata JF Apex.

JF Apex juga berkata minat pembeli juga akan terarah untuk membeli kereta import dalam jangka panjang jika pengurangan duti eksais dilaksanakan, dengan pengurangan 30 peratus merupakan penjimatan yang besar.

"Atas sebab ini, jika pengurangan 30 peratus dilaksanakan, kami menjangkakan permintaan untuk kereta mewah akan meningkat, yang semestinya memberi manfaat kepada pembuat/pengedar seperti UMW (Lexus) dan DRB-Hicom (Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz).

"Ini akan mengorbankan Proton dan Perodua memandangkan hampir semua komponen kereta berkenaan dipasang dalam negara dan tidak dikenakan duti eksais," katanya. - Bernama

Higher taxes on big cars

stix — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:02:38 +0800

QUOTE

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — The petrol subsidy needs to be phased out gradually and this should be done through the introduction of a higher road tax for owners of cars with large engine capacities, former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah proposed today.

Describing the petrol subsidy as a “drag on government finances” and also an obstacle to the proper allocation of resources, Tengku Razaleigh said: “We cannot live on cheap petrol forever.”

“We can seek ways to transition into subsidy removal,” the Gua Musang MP said.

He suggested that owners of bigger cars should be made to pay a higher road tax to “proxy subsidy removal” for their cars.

“In order to protect the average consumer, perhaps we can begin by applying an implicit subsidy cut on larger engine capacity vehicle owners via a higher road tax,” he said during his keynote speech at the MIER’s National Economic Outlook Conference 2013-2014 here.

“At the appropriate time, the petrol subsidies themselves should gradually be removed,” he said.

Source

Again with the 'rich should pay more taxes. rich should subsidize the poor.' the fck is with this mindset?

CUEFAGS requesting cheaper homes.

stix — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 17:10:21 +0800

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 ― Civil service union CUEPACS demanded today the government force urban developers to set aside a 35-per cent quota of affordable homes priced under RM150,000 for civil servants, under the 2013 Budget to be tabled next week.
CUEPACS president Datuk Omar Osman said that while affordable housing was available in rural areas, these were too far away for civil servants’ commute to work.

“We ask the government to come up with a policy to ensure that 35 per cent [quota] of urban housing development costing between RM60,000 and RM150,000 will be imposed on developers so that medium income civil servants earning below RM3,000 can go to work easier,” Osman said.

He added that other demands, such as the replacement of the Public Service Renumeration scheme (SBPA), the resolution of issues with some 45,000 to 60,000 contract civil workers, and increasing the cost of living allowance (COLA) have been brought up before.

“These demands are not new, some are old but are critical and have to be addressed urgently as we have received too many reports and complaints,” Osman said.

source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysi...civil-servants/

Apple H8rs.

stix — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:40:23 +0800

Someone had to say it.

stix — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 15:00:56 +0800

June 2012 Sales

stix — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 01:26:30 +0800

vios, camry and forte takes the trophy. wonder why forte sells though, besides value for money its pretty ugly in my eyes

GPS map.

stix — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:08:49 +0800

hi all, would love to ask the lowyat automotive engineers (lol) on a certain issue. basically, my ride is a grey import from UK, hence my map at the moment is also from that country. i've been using my garmin as a temporary solution but aint it pathetic to use a GPS on a car that has a built in GPS. anyway, what i request is a solution/fix to alter the map into our lovely malaysian map. for example, E-Class has their own CD to install the firmware and GPS map into their in-built system. any way to fix this for an audi?

Getting That Cool Gritty Look

stix — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 01:29:45 +0800

Hi guys, i've always loved how dave hill plays with the color of his photos. anyway, i'm here to share a tutorial that i saw online which i found useful. anyway, i hope yall can contribute some methods/tutorials on this effect as well.

Step One: Lighting

The most important factor is lighting. You need to have whatever you're photographing properly lit. The brighter the subject, the better this technique will work. This does not work with a dark subject with lots of shadows. In the post processing world.. if you have shadows.. you cannot recover that detail with brightness.. however, if you have highlights.. you can reduce them to shadows. It cannot work the other way around.

I will be using this image.. I tried the same pose as the one on Dave Hill's website with Jon Heder.

This is straight off the camera.. no editing except resize.

Step Two: Lightroom (This can also be done in Photoshop using Camera Raw)

There's a few things I do in Lightroom.

a.) Fill Light up (+100)
b.) Blacks down (+100)
c.) Saturation down.. (very important!) depending on the look you want (-35)
d.) Clarity high to enhance shadows (+100)
and finally
e.) Exposure down (-0.75)

There are no exact numbers, they all vary.. but I start in that order and work my way down the list. The numbers in the brackets are what I used for this image.

With that edit.. you get this image:

Step Three: Photoshop

a.) In Photoshop, duplicate layer (CTRL+J), you take your clone tool or whatever to eliminate any of the exaggerated highlights. This technique reveals dust very much so you must get rid of all those. For example, all the highlights on the cupboard. I would also black out the reflection caused in the stove window.

b.) Filter -> Other -> High Pass.. this will enhance edge sharpness. It will make your image pop more.. do not use a high radius output. For this image, I used about 3.5. You want to only emphasize the edges of the picture. Change blend mode to OVERLAY.

If you did it too much.. relax, just lower the opacity.

c.) Imagenomic Portaiture. This plugin is amazing.. but what you're going to use it for is to enhance contrast and warmness on the skin tones. You can also use it to smooth out any noise in the skin.. but please, be gentle.. too much and your subject's skin will look like plastic.

d.) Duplicate layer. Imagenomic Noiseware. Add a layer mask and conceal the subject so the filter only applies to the rest of the image and not the subject. This will take some Photoshop understanding but it's very easy and everyone should learn how to Layer Mask anyway.

After that's all said and done.. you resize your image and you get this:

Conclusion:

I never said I mastered it because well, I don't have all the lighting resources that Dave Hill has. You can even be creative and take multiple pictures with your one or two strobes lighting up different areas of the frame (your camera on a tripod of course) and then layer mask all your images together. This is how Dave Hill gets that sharpness throughout the whole image.. not using f/16 apertures as most people assume. His final images are like 2 or 3 images in one.

I'm a firm believer that the only way to properly learn something is if you pass it on and teach someone else what you've learned.. that's when what you're learning is complete. Pay it forward so to speak. Knowledge unshared, is knowledge wasted. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I'll be happy to answer any questions that I can.

I'm also no Photoshop guru.. yet. and I hope this doesn't offend anyone because there are countless Dave Hill techniques.. I just think this one is very simple and easy for most people.

Low Cost Apartment Investment

stix — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:27:06 +0800

As per title, i would like to know what are the views of all the gentleman here. all this while, my main game is always on apartments and condominiums but lately, i see the profit in investing low cost apartments. my dad insisted that this market would never triumph the main games and have a low profit margin. simple scenario; would it be a wise choice to invest in, lets say 4 150k low cost apartments than in a single 600k condominium?

Creatine

stix — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:55:44 +0800

i've been using creatine for a year now and i see tremendous improvements especially in terms of power during my work outs. a week ago, an instructor in my gym advised me not to depend on creatine as it is harmful to our kidneys/liver? according to him, his kidney/or/liver hurt a lil when he stopped his creatine intake. never happened in my case but what bout yall here?