Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by khew

Just to share another scam story

khew — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 22:47:06 +0800

Yesterday, I almost became a victim of a scam. So just wanted to share it here for your awareness. It probably won't happen to you since you couldn't be as dumb as me right... anyways, here it is.

So yesterday, I answered a system-generated call from J&T (actually, i have been ignoring this for weeks). It basically said that I have an undelivered parcel. So I pressed 1 to speak to the customer service and found out that I have sent a forbidden parcel (it contains ATM card, SIM card, check book, etc). So she (the customer service operator) told me to lodge a police report so as to clear my name and so on. And she said she can "sambung" my line to the Kota Bahru police HQ, and I said ok to go ahead.

Next, I was speaking to a sergeant who first gave me the PDRM website which lists all the phone numbers of all police stations in Malaysia, and he said he will call me from Kota Bahru police station and asked me to verify that the number is the same as the one given in the website. He said the number will be the same except the first 2 digits which is a code used for our phone recording purpose. (I didn't give much thought to this as I saw the last 7 digits were the same as the website). Next, he proceeded to make the report and after everything was done, he said he will also check my IC number with HQ (bukit aman) and see if anything else is related to it or not. And after waiting for several minutes, he said my IC was found to be used to open a bank account in an active money laundering case. I was shocked. Then he said he will have to connect me to another "officer" who's in charge of this money laundering division.

This officer proceeded to send the warrant of arrest with my name, photo, IC to me. And said that so far, they have not executed this warrant yet pending the approval of the ASP (in Bukit aman).

I was told to cooperate fully and then if he's satisfied, he will help me to make "rayuan" to this ASP the next day. Here I was asked to declare my assets since this is a money laundering case where I was accused of receiving >200K commission in assisting the main suspect. Finally, he said I am probably a victim of stolen identity and helped me to make "rayuan". Also, the warrant also states that i must not divulge any of this to anyone as this may jeopardize the ongoing investigation otherwise, I will be held in lockup. At this point, I was scared shitless.
I was also required to report to him every 2 hours using Whatsapp.

The next day, he taught me what to say to the ASP to make the "rayuan". It was during the conversation with the "ASP" I finally realised that this is likely a scam as he asked me to open 2 new clean savings accounts to facilitate with the investigation whereupon offices from Bank Negara and another division will check if my money is clean.

So I decided to risk violating the warrant condition (not to divulge this), and contacted the Kota bahru and also went to the nearest police station to check if there is really a warrant for me or not. Turns out no.

Now looking back, I know there were several red flags already as the real officer in the police station told me this: if there was really a warrant for you, they would not have waited but they would have arrested me immediately.
Also, the online police report is too convenient. Also, the officer in charge seems to be super efficient!!

But anyways, this is it. Please share it with your frens and dear ones although they are probably not as dumb as me in the first place.

Dearth of C programmers

khew — Fri, 25 Mar 2022 18:31:46 +0800

Where have all the C/C++ programmers gone to? Seems like it is very difficult to hire them nowadays. PM if you are interested!

Three-Body Problem

khew — Sat, 13 Jun 2015 20:24:33 +0800

Just finished this sci-fi from a Chinese author, Liu Cixin; never heard of him until I read Ken Liu's Grace of Kings, who is the English translator of this Chinese sci-fi. I must said this is definitely one of the most mind-blowing sci-fi I have read in recent years. (apart from Blindsight by Peter Watts though it lacks the epicness compared to Three Body)

While the characters may not be enticing (as I am a sucker for well-written character), the plot is so intriguing that I can't wait to get to the end. Well... the final part was so astounding and jaw-dropping; definitely, made me google for the theory behind it as I am not well-versed in that. And I assure you this is definitely not another story using Einstein's general theory of relativity (see last year's Interstellar).

It is definitely a deserved Hugo winner this year if it wins.

Books to look forward to in 2015

khew — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:32:00 +0800

Mainly fantasy for me. Here is my list:
1. Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
A continuation of an excellent series. IMO, his best so far. Great quotes, vivid battles and unexpected twist.
Slated for July 2015.

2. Shadow's Campaign Book#3 - Django Wexler
Love the battle in this series: muskets, Napoleonitic military tactics and formations interspersed with magic. The political intrigues were quite realistic.
Slated for July 2015

3. (Book#3 of Blood Song) - Anthony Ryan
Date: ?? 2015

4. A new Vorkoisigan book - Lois McMaster Bujold
Date: ?? 2015
Although the latest in the series has taken a downturn (at least to me) since Civil Campaign, I will probably try to grab this.

Interview Question

khew — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:44:42 +0800

If you have a lot of time in your hands, try this problem.
Given one or more sorted arrays. Find the minimum range such that it covers at least 1 number in each array.
Eg:

Array 1 = [1,2, 50, 100]
Array 2 = [-2, 20, 30]
Array 3 = [41, 45, 200]

Answer:
Min Range is [30..50]

Best read of 2013

khew — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:41:04 +0800

It's the time of the year again to see what our best reads are. Below is mine (sorry sci-fi/fantasy only as I hardly read other genres):

Mark Lawrence - Broken Empire series:
Great debut and was highly recommended by other forums. Having finished the series I can see why. Though it's filled with many brutal, dark and gritty elements, I find that I have not had such an enjoyment from fantasy series since A Song of Ice and Fire. Everything in this series is so invigorating and refreshing as compared to norms - especially the main character. No doubt some of the more morally-sensitive person cringe/even hate this character, but not me. If Eddard Stark has only half of this character's attributes, he would not have lost his head.

Justin Cronin - The Passage
Even for a guy like me who flunked his English literature class, I can appreciate the mastery of writing skills by this author. His prose is definitely to me the main strength of this book. The description of the post-apocalyptic world and life is so poignant and evocative. I just lack the words to describe it further, but you will know the work of a master when you read it. If you wish to read this, try not to read its review. Because the build-up to revelation of what caused the disaster was very well done by the author; so don't get spoiled by others.

Jonathan Shroud - Bartimaeus series
This is the most fun and easiest to read series I had for this year. Whole series is written mainly from the POV of a djinn.
Great plots, lots of witticism, actions, humor, and some touching moments. So it's no surprising that I wrapped up the entire series in less than 2 weeks.
Also, this series reminds me a little about another great novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell; maybe due to its settings and the similarity between one of the main character and Jonathan Strange.

Republic of Thieves is out

khew — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 09:28:22 +0800

Finally, the long awaited latest installation of the Gentlemen ******* series is here.
Still reading it. No comments, but I like the reversion to the 1st book's style - overlapping between past and present.

Enjoy

What's ur favourite World War Z story ?

khew — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 11:43:54 +0800

Here is my list :
1. Redeker's plan: what to say ? do not know whether to hate him or love him. Such character! And the twist at the end of this story (the signout page).
2. Yonkers: how f***ed-up modern weaponry was against zombies and sometimes, actually worked against them in some cases.
3. Avalon song in the Battle of Five Colleges - manly tears was shed.
4. The story from the security guy where a bunch of Hollywood/TV celebrities got their come-uppance. Damn satisfying
5. Cuban storyline - I liked how it become a production powerhouse for the war effort. How ironic!
6. Chinese nuclear submarine story - the confrontation between the father and 'son'....
7. The speech from the England's royalty about the highest service is to the public. Was quite touching.

Some unforgettable terms: Lobo, Zacks.

Other minor stuff: quislings, Last Man Standings syndrome <--- I don't know how the heck the author could even imagine these types of pyschological/sociological effects

What are yours ?

A Short History of Nearly Everything

khew — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 10:55:56 +0800

Had this book been used as an introduction to sciences in our high school or pre-u, I guess many of us might have chosen a different career.
Science teachers would do well to pique the interest of their students by using this book during the course of their teaching.

The book covers a wide range of subjects like from physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, meteorology, etc, and the major discoveries of
each subject from beginning of time till present. If you are curious to know how were things discovered, or what kind of thoughts that led to them,
this book will give you a good insight. Also the light and humorous tone of the author does make it easy to read unlike the pedantic tone of our science
textbooks.

Not only does it explain the major physical laws in layman terms, this book also gives us a glimpse of the scientists' life at that time,
their beliefs, the rivalries among them, their sacrifice (often hopeless, tragic, and hilarious at times), their thoughts,
the questions that were asked at that time that led to birth of theories and much more ! In fact, I find that their stories are sometimes more
fascinating than their discoveries. For instance, I didn't know that Isaac Newton main interest was alchemy
(rumor had it that he drank mercury in some of the experiments). Nor did I know that Werner Heisenberg himself didn't even know what a matrix is
before he came out with what is now known as the Uncertainty Principle for quantum mechanics.

Having read it, one cannot help but wonder how improbable it is to be alive and living on this planet
and how little we understand what's around us even in this century.

The Windup Girl

khew — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:07:50 +0800

Just completed The Windup Girl - a Hugo winner for 2009

The settings is great. Story is in Thailand, but there is a lot of flashbacks to Malaya and its future especially from a Malaysian Chinese point of view (quite matching the stereotype of a typical Chinese).
Can't say too much without spoiling it. What I liked best was the author's description of the world after the petroleum era. It is quite novel. Plot is so-so, but the pacing is good.

Overall, it's a good read.