Tips For Everything

Virtual Pet Screensaver

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:38:00 +0000

Once i've browsed through my favourite forum, i found this virtual pet screensaver, which is introduced by the forum member, xtreme_paranoid. It's a screensaver that can interact with you, you can feed,play with it, and even kill it.. hehehe

It's very easy to start with, just download and install. It will be automatically set as your screensaver, but make sure you make the duration for the screensaver shorter, so you can play with it faster :D It don't hog ram or watsoever, so you can try this. I'll give the link at the bottom of this post. To cancel the screensaver, just press the "Esc" button from your keyboard. Cheers!!

Can be downloaded here, Virtual Pet

Original source

Frostwire, The New Limewire?

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:09:00 +0000

There's a new p2p program which is called Frostwire. At first glane, it might seems like a copy version of limewire and such, but it does offer some thing that Limewire could not offer. The interface for Frostwire is the same as Limewire, and look exactly like it.

Same interface, same usage, why Frostwire?

The most important thing is, Frostwire is free, unlike Limewire, which have both free and pro version. With Frostwire free version, we get the turbo-charged connection already. I've tested it myself and the speed is almost the same as Limewire pro. And, Frostwire seems to use less RAM compared to Limewire. The system requirement for this software is

128 MB of RAM (256 MB Recommended)
Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT,Mac OS X 10.4 or later,Linux, Unix such as Solaris
Java 1.5 or later (1.6 Recommended)

Have fun experiencing this new p2p program!

Whooops.. Get it here Frostwire

Dell Studio Hybrid

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:31:00 +0000

This new gadget surely catch your eyes when it came across you. Looks like an external hard disk, or some dvd player, but believe it or not, this is the mini CPU from Dell, which is released not long ago. Let see what can this tiny CPU do.

It has 6 interchangeable color sleeves, which mean that you can the color depending on your mood, and 6 colors is good enough! It also offers Blu-ray dvd player embeded. And obviously with this size, the power consumption will be decreased.

For the tech specs, it offers

Intel^® Pentium^® Dual Core, Intel Core^TM 2 Duo
Genuine Windows Vista^®
Up to 4GB 667Mhz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM
Up to 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 rpm)
Intel^® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

There are a lot more that they offer, but i just listed only some of them. Buyer can choose either Window Vista for Home basic, Home Premium, or Ultimate. What makes me like about this Dell mini CPU is they support up to 4GB RAM, which is essential if you're using a 64-bit window vista. Other mini desktop such as acer, only offers up to 2 GB RAM. Now let see what people say about this mini cpu

Pros

Small
Lightweight
Unique
Good set of modern connections

Cons

Slow hard drive speed
Video performance not so good (Graphic Card/Video Card)
Some people say it's loud

The starting price for this cpu is $499, which is about RM 1.5k(+-). Well, for me, this is great for students which only use their computer for study, office purpose. For gaming, this is a no-no, unless you don't want to play new games.

Diablo III Dreamscene Wallpaper

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:57:00 +0000

The title says it all.. Today i'm going to share the diablo III wallpaper, and mind you, it's called dreamscene because it will be moving on your desktop, seriously. If you don't seem to have an idea how it will looks like, this is a screenshot showing how it'll be displayed on your deskie.

Its uber cool, for me.. But i don't use it, just try it once.. Just because my RAM can't take this kind of things anymore.. Well my dekstop use windows blind and other tweaking software, making it consume lotsa RAM.

So you want me to stop talking bullshit and teach you how to make this?. It's very easy, just go HERE to download the wallpaper. After you finish downloaded, unzip it. The go to your desktop, right click and properties. Then choose the dekstop tab, browse to the folder u just unzipped and choose the html file relative to your screen resolution. click apply and press ok! Done!

This article and the screen shot is taken from a forumer from this website

http://www.diablofans.com/forums

All credits go to that website, =)

Leave some comments if you happen to like this! Thanks

Google Preview 3.11 Firefox Addons

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:31:00 +0000

This new plugin is from morzilla firefox and it's compatible with firefox 3.0. Yeah!.. since i've installed v3.0, i hardly can find plugins, but now, there are lots of plugin for Morzilla Firefox 3.0.

This Google preview is an add ons that shows the picture/preview of the website when we search google. Just like the example below

This is for easier browsing through the internet, as in sometimes we don't know whether we've visited this site or that site. Just looking at the links and wording won't make you remember better compared to an image.

Its compatible for firefox 1.0-3.0 and i think its a great add ons, i'm using it now between. hehehehe

This great add ons can be downloaded HERE

Falling Sensation When Sleeping

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:38:00 +0000

I think this kinda sensation not only happened to me, but to others to. It's a sensation that happened when you are sleeping, as if you are falling down from a high place, or falling down from a motorbike and it cause your body to make a body reflex and wake you up. This sensation is called hypnic jerk, and its very normal for people to get this when they sleep. Mostly, this will happened when you are tired and you sleep, or you are sleeping in a uncomfortable manners. As for me, it always happened when i slept in a lecture hall, or in LRT on my way to Uni =p. Its sometimes very humiliating if you suddenly jerk at the crowd. And if happen on bed, i may accidentally kick or slap someone. Lol..

So, why does this happened actually? Its because, let say i'm very tired in a class, and my eyes felt like weighted 2 tonns, and my body start slacking, as in the muscle start relaxing. This makes our brain misinterprete them and thought we're falling from some places, thus send signal to our muscle to charge them back. That's why you'll wake up with some voluntary muscle movement!

This may also cause by our own dream, and letsay you dreamt that you were in an action movie, fighting with some monsters or what, and the monster push you down a cliff, this will somehow, make the brain feels like having the "falling sensation".

It also happened to those who have hard time to sleep, or always sleep late. Like me.. I'm a very hard sleeper, i can stay up to 24 hours just browsing forum alone. And when i sleep, normally i'll get this hypnic jerk. Taking nap after class also cause me to have a lot of jerks..

There's no harm for this to happen, just that if you jerk too much until you accidentally kick people or kung-fu with them, you maybe need to warn them everytime you sleep, lol. And the statistics said, almost 80% of people experienced this! I'm not alone! Yeah!

Download Youtube Video

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:47:00 +0000

There are many ways for you to download the videos from youtube. I'm sure that there are still many people that don't know youtube video can be downloaded.. Let see what you can do in order to download them

Using Real Player
Youtube Grabber [ software ]
Youtube Grabber [ Copy/Paste Link ]

1. Real Player

This method is the easiest of all, since when you want to install the real player, they'll ask you whether to enable the youtube downloader or not. After you've installed it, when you view the youtube website, there'll be one small tab at the top right of the video screen, which can be clicked to download the video, it can be see here, like this

just choose the save video as then you will get your video sooon!

2. Youtube Grabber

Youtube grabber is a program that works as it sounds.. It grabs youtube videos. Just paste a link into the program, then click grab.Its very easy!

The youtube grabber can be downloaded from

HERE or HERE

3. Youtube Grabber 2nd Type

This is the web version of the youtube grabber, what i meant by web version is, you don't need to download the program, just paste the link into the youtube grabber website, then grab it!

The Website can be found HERE or HERE

Have fun trying, don't forget to rate my article and leave some comments.. Thanks

Play Movie on Your Desktop

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 06:14:00 +0000

I've found a way to play movie on your desktop.. Yeah, it will be displayed as your desktop background, and its moving. Before you start, you'll need to have a program call VLC player.

First, open a video using the VLC player. Right click the video, choose open with and then find VLC player. After that, right click on the VLC screen, and choose wallpaper, and its done!

Now that u've set the video as wallpaper, it may appear as wide screen on your desktop, to make it appear "fully" on your dekstop, play with the aspect-ratio until you get your desire video size and dimension

Playing a low quality movie maybe very useless if you are using a huge screen resolution.. But you can apply this with the dreamscene videos, which is the wallpaper for W.Vista that are animated. Choose a high quality video then use it as your desktop, u'll be surprise with the feeling of having a waterfall on your desktop, together with the sound!

I've found website that have this dreamscene collection, can be downloaded HERE . And to download VLC player, the link can be found at my previous post, its HERE

Have fun trying! And don't forget to rate and leave some comments too.

Winterbell

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:16:00 +0000

I've found this game last few years, but now i remember it, i want to play it back, badly.. Haha, its just a flash game, which is very simple, but the chracter, the bunny is very cute, and the environment is very soothing, plus with the superb background music which never failed to make my heart melt!

Here is some screenies

Well, the game load very fast, and its very easy to play, just guide the small snow bunny by jumping on the bell continously using the mouse to control it. Its very addictive :P Tips for new player, don't jump too fast, later you'll have no idea where you bunny go!

Have fun playing XD

Can be played here WinterBell

Keyboard Shortcuts [ Part 3 ]

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:18:00 +0000

Here is my last version of the keyboard shortcuts.. Hope it helps.. Drop me a comment if it does help you

F5 key (Update the active window, can be use in IE or FF also)

Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)

Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)

Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)

Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)

Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)

Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)

Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)

CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)

Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)

Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)

Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)

Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)

Tweaking and Cleaning Ur Window XP

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:09:00 +0000

I've recently receive a mail from Pcpitstop.com, Which explained the ways to speed up your computer. There are many tweaks given by them, and some of them requires editing the registry, but i won't include that here, because if you are not pro/confident enough, modifying the registry can be a real mess, and can make your comp unbootable.

Cleaning

Remove un-used Programs

Start >> Control Panel >> add/remove programs

Remove unused Desktop Icon

Use a Registry Cleaner

CCleaner

Remove unused Windows Components

Defrag Your Hard Disk

Start/ All Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools/ Disk Defragmenter

Modify System Restore

Start/ My Computer / Properties / System Restore / Setting.

ALL credits goes to PcPitstop.com article on

June 16, 2008 by shogan in The Pit Blog

And last but not least, don't forget to rate this article, thanks

Media Players

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:08:00 +0000

There's a lot of media players nowadays, but the one i've found out that some players are not that good. So now i'll compile together some players that i've used before and put it here.

Media Player Classic

This is how the media player classic looks like.Media Player Classic looks just like Windows Media Player 6.4, but has many additional features. It has a built in DVD player with real-time zoom, support for AVI subtitles, QuickTime and RealVideo support (requires QuickTime and/or Real Player); built-in MPEG2/SVCD/DVD codec. It also supports subtitles in avi form.

This is my favorite so far, because it can plays lots of file extension, and its very light, comparing to other player

It can be downloaded here : Media Player Classic

GOM Player

Well, this GOM player looks more stylish that the windows media classic, and i like the looks, its kinda simple yet elegant.

GOM player have many installed codecs, so, playing movie with various extension won't give you a headache, furthermore, this GOM player have a feature, which is called a codec finder, which means if there's no specific codec on the player, it will find for you, and redirect you there so you can download it.

GOM Player also supports SMI, SRT, RT, SUB(with IDX) files for subtitle. You can specify margin, location, size, resolution, font and others. You can also enable shadow, view ASF files with subtitle, karaoke subtitle mode. You can even synchronize subtitle and video if there's any mismatch.

Another feature for GOM player is the screen capture, which means now you can take picture of the movie u r watching! isn't that's cool?

The loading time is just "OKOK" only. Not very fast, yet not too slow.

It can be downloaded here : GOM player

VLC Player

This is the VLC player, which looks very simple.. VLC player is skinnable, and have lots of skins. This VLC is another "light" player, which means it won't hog up your RAM when its used. There are many features and many file extension can be played using this player, like the other 2 players above.

It can be downloaded here : VLC Player

FLV Player

Here's the example of how FLV player looks like. FLV is the extension of flash type of files. Let say you downloaded a video from youtube, or other streaming video websites, mostly it will be in .flv extension, and you'll be needing this to play it. FLV player is not that good and not that bad, it used to be a horrible player last time, but now no more.

It can be downloaded here : FLV Player

This is all i have to share with you. But my favorite is the windows media classic.. Haha

Stream Youtube faster, HOW?

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:15:00 +0000

Are you the one that always need to press the "play" button on the youtube page, and left it for 10-20 minutes, just to view your favorite videos, even if the duration of the video is 2-5 minutes? Or you have this problem where the youtube load half-way, then it stuck, making you frustrated need to refresh/reload the video all over again? Now with this software i want to share with you, i promise you'll never get this kind of annoyances again!

Read More

Speedbit video accelerator is a freeware that makes video streaming from youtube and other 100 sites faster, by using several method, which i'll tell you how it's done.

Main features

The now accelerating shows that the video streamed is being accelerated (duh!). If it don't show, that's mean there's some problem with the speedbit accelerator, as in their can't connect to their server or something like that.

From the small window which will normally appeared at your right hand side on your desktop, will have the video search function, so you can search your favorite video here, instead of in youtube or other websites. The recently accelerated tab is self-explanatory i guessed? A small "arrow-like" icon also will appear on your taskbar, that's the accelerator icon.

You also can change the window color according to your preferences. And you can set it whether you want it to auto-starts at startup or not, and other settings as well. So now, you might be thinking that this software will definitely hog your RAM, and turn your PC into a turtle. But hell no! This is very light! I swear!

How does this program works?
[taken from the original website]

With SpeedBit Video Accelerator installed, your browser’s connection to specific streaming video server is being rerouted through the Video Accelerator Daemon. Unlike the normal browser connection, the Daemon uses a unique patent pending technology, that substitutes the single connection with a sophisticated multi-connection algorithm. The end result is an (up to) 5 times faster connection, which handles the cache buffering (the “preloading” of the movie) much more efficiently.

Well, either you understand or not is not the problem. Try it yourself and experience it now!

Oops, before that, let's take a look at the system requirements

OS :Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003
Browser :Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, Maxthon, Mozilla, Netscape, Flock, AOL and all other browsers.

p/s: sorry for vista user.. hahaha XD

Visit their MAIN website to download!
Cheers! leave some comments if you like this and find its working!

Keyboard Shortcuts [ Part 2 ]

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:30:00 +0000

Now it's time for another keyboard shortcuts lists.. Yahoo! Now let's take a good look if you'll be needing this shortcuts to increase your productivity and saves your time. Time = money, so it makes you earns more money too =)

F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)

[ Just press the F3 in any window, and see what happened =) ]

ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)

[ Highlight the item then press it ]

ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)

[ This is is the most popular, i doubt people don't know this 1 ]

ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)

[ Just press ]

CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)

[ Useful in photoshop and microsoft office programs ]

ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)

[ Hold the ALT and keep pressing the TAB, to choose which window you wanna open ]

ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)

[ Almost the same as ALT+TAB, just that this one will change the window automatically ]

F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)

[ Use it on desktop, notice that some icons, such as in the quick launch bar, will be selected ]

F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)

[ Click the address bar and press this, will give you a list of available link/paths ]

SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)

[ Same as right clicking the item ]

CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)

[ Same as pressing the "window" button on keyboard ]

That's all for now, will update again next time. Gtg for dinner. If you find that this post is interesting, take a time and rate it or leave some comments, it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks =)

Btw, Part 3 is coming very soon,so, keep on checking!

My Maplestory Video XD

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:22:00 +0000

So, this is my first time making a video out of my online games, which is on maplestory private server.. Haha, no offense to those who played in real server tho. It maybe a lil suckie at the moment, since i'm very new to this video editing, and the software i used are only fraps and Windows Movie Maker. =) It's about my character hunting some mini boss in the game XD.So, enjoy the video

p/s: The video is still waiting for some processing in youtube, so if you can't view it, don't flame me yet :D, be patient. I know it has nothing to do with this blog, but anyway..

You can leave your comments at the shoutbox, thanks =)

Keyboard Shortcuts [ Part 1 ]

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:02:00 +0000

I've found some useful keyboard shortcuts, and i've compile it together to make a list for the shortcuts. For the 1st part, i'll post the one that is regularly use by the normal computer savvies and in other part, i'm going to find other rare 1 and post it here, So keep checking from time to time ok?

CTRL+C (Copy)

[ Highlight the word/phrases/files that u want to be copied ]

CTRL+X (Cut)

[ Highlight the word/phrases/files that u want to be cut ]

CTRL+V (Paste)

[ Use this in the place that you want to paste the item ]

CTRL+Z (Undo)

DELETE (Delete)

[ The delete button below the "insert" button and beside "end" button on normal keyboard ]

SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)

CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)

[ Drag then drop it ]

CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)

[ Drag then drop it ]

F2 key (Rename the selected item)

CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)

[ Use it in typing programs ]

CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)

[ Use it in typing programs ]

CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)

[ Use it in typing programs ]

CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)

[ Use it in typing programs ]

CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)

[ Use it in typing programs ]

SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)

CTRL+A (Select all items that's in the folder or all the texts)

Legend

- Word in orange is the shortcut

- Word in purple is further explanation

That's all for the first post, keep on checking for the second post. And please leave a comments if you found this useful or its not working or etc. Thanks for reading. =)

Abstract Wallpaper

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Technorati Tags: Wallpapers

I've found some nice abstract-theme wallpapers in this website, which can be accessed through the links on my blog, or just simply click here, if you're lazy to do so. I've choose some that i think it looks good and suite me, and i'm gonna put it here for other people to view and maybe take it as their wallpaper if they like it.

What makes this website worth a visit is, there's not only a good unique wallpaper for you to choose, but he had put some useful tutorial on how to create this superb wallpaper!

Credits to gamefreak from LYN

10 Diet Myths

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:09:00 +0000

Need to lose some inch? Already prepared to eat non-fat foods for your whole life? Before you give up the late night munching and go on a no-fat detox frenzy to kick your sluggish metabolism into shape, read what the experts have to say about these popular dieting myths.

Myth 1

Low fat or non-fat diet are good
Read More

People tend to think they need a low-fat diet to lose weight, but you should still have a third of your calories coming from fat.'
This is because our body needs fat for energy, tissue repair and to transport vitamins A, D, E and K around the body.
Leading dietician,Lyndel Costain adds: 'As a guideline, women need 70g of fat a day (95g for men) with 30g as the minimum (40g for men).
There's a nono to follow a fat-free diet, because it will eventually disrupt the processes going on in your body. Cutting down on saturated fats(butter, cheese, coconut oil) and eating unsaturated fats, found in things like olive oil and avocados, will help.

Myth 2
Fasting makes you lose weight

In a short term, this may be correct, it can make you lose some pounds. But in a long term, it will eventually hinder the weight loss
Claire MacEvilly, a nutritionist at the MRC Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, explains: 'Losing weight over the long term burns off fat. Crash dieting or fasting not only removes fat but also lean muscle and tissue.'
The loss of lean muscle causes a fall in your basal metabolic rate - the amount of calories your body needs on a daily basis. This means your body will need fewer calories than it did previously, making weight gain more likely once you stop dieting.It's also why exercise is recommended in any weight-loss plan to build muscle and maintain your metabolic rate.
Claire MacEvilly adds: 'Fasting can also make you feel dizzy or weak so it's much better to try long-term weight loss.'

Myth 3
Eat foods at night makes you FAT

Many diets tell you not to eat after a certain time in the evening. They say the body will store more fat because it is not burned off with any activity.
A study at the Dunn Nutrition Centre in Cambridge suggests otherwise.
Volunteers were placed in a whole body calorimeter, which measures calories burned and stored.They were fed with a large lunch and small evening meal for one test period, then a small lunch and large evening meal during a second test period.The results revealed the large meal eaten late at night did not make the body store more fat.
It's not when you eat that's important, but the total amount you consume in a 24-hour period.
Lyndel Costain adds: 'It is true that people who skip meals during the day, then eat loads in the evening are more likely to be overweight than those who eat regularly throughout the day.This may be because eating regular meals helps people regulate their appetite and overall food intake.

Myth 4
A slow metabolism prevents weight loss.

This is a common myth among dieters who are struggling to lose weight.Studies have shown that resting metabolism - the number of calories used by the body at rest - increases as people become fatter.
In other words, the larger you are, the more calories you need to keep your body going and the higher your metabolism.
Clare Grace, research dietitian at the Queen Mary University of London, says: 'Weight gain occurs when the number of calories eaten is greater than the number used up by the body.
'Unfortunately, people are becoming increasingly sedentary, burning off less and less calories, and it seems likely this is a crucial factor in the increasing numbers struggling to control their weight.'

Myth 5
Fattening foods equal rapid weight gain.

Believe it or not, true weight gain is a slow process. You need to eat an extra 3500 calories to gain one pound of body fat (and vice versa for losing it).
Lyndel Costain explains: 'If the scales say you've gained a few pounds after a meal out, it's largely due to fluid, which will resolve itself - as long as you don't get fed up, and keep overeating!
'A lot of people feel guilty and think they've blown their diet if they eat rich foods. But, how can a 50g chocolate bar make you instantly put on pounds?
'For long-term weight control, balance high-fat foods with healthy food and activity.'

Myth 6
Low-fat milk has less calcium than full-fat milk.

Skimmed and semi-skimmed milk actually have more calcium, says dietician Alison Sullivan, because the calcium is in the watery part, not the creamy part.
She says: 'If you're trying to lose weight and cut fat from your diet, skimmed milk is your best bet because it is lower in fat and has 10mg more calcium per 200ml milk than full fat.
'Semi-skimmed is best for maintaining a healthy lifestyle if you're not dieting.
'Full-fat milk is best for children and adults who are underweight.'

Myth 7
Low-fat foods help you lose weight.

'Low-fat' or 'fat-free' doesn't necessarily mean low calorie or calorie-free, warns Lyndel Costain.
Check the calorie content of foods, especially cakes, biscuits, crisps, ice creams and ready meals.
Extra sugars and thickeners are often added to boost flavour and texture, so calorie content may be only a bit less, or similar to standard products.
Foods labelled low-fat should contain no more than 3g fat per 100g.
'Watching the quantity is important,' adds nutritionist Alison Sullivan. 'People tend to have half-fat spread but then use twice as much.
'And things like fruit pastilles may be low in fat, but are high in sugar which turns to fat.
'With low fat foods, look to see where else the calories might come from.'

Myth 8
Cholesterol is bad for you.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is made mostly by the liver.
It can be bad for us, because it forms deposits that line and clog our arteries. Clogged arteries contribute to heart disease.
But we all need some blood cholesterol because it's used to build cells and make vital hormones - and there's good and bad cholesterol.
Lyndel Costain explains: 'Saturated fats found in food like meat, cheese, cream, butter and processed pastries tend to raise low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, known as 'bad' cholesterol, which delivers cholesterol to the arteries.
'High density lipoprotein (HDL), or 'good' cholesterol, transports cholesterol away from the arteries, back to the liver.'
So choose unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils, nuts and seeds.

Myth 9
Vegetarians can't build muscle.

Vegetarians can be as muscular as meat eaters by getting their protein from vegetable sources such as cheese, nuts, pulses and grains.
Claire MacEvilly says: 'You need protein to build muscle, but too much can lead to long-term side effects.
'The body can only store a certain amount of protein, so too much can damage the kidney.
'The Department of Health recommends that 50 per cent of energy should come from carbohydrates, 35 per cent from fat and the remaining 15 per cent from protein.'

Myth 10
You always gain weight when you stop smoking.

Some people gain weight when they stop smoking, some lose weight and some stay the same.While nicotine does increase the body's metabolism, its effect is small. It's far healthier to be an overweight non-smoker than not bother giving up because you think you'll put on weight.
Alison Sullivan says: 'Where people tend to fall down is when they replace a cigarette with comfort food.
'Chewing sugar-free gum or snacking on vegetable strips kept in the fridge is a good idea because you can have these instead of reaching for the biscuit tin.
'And something like a satsuma keeps your hands occupied until the craving goes away.'

Credits to
Elizabeth openshaw, health journalist
Original article can be found here http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/dietandnutritio...s/dietmyths.htm

How Much is Your Full Tank Now?

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Due to the petrol price increase in malaysia lately, i'll compile the price for the petrol(full tank) for different local cars. This price is taken from the other forum, lowyat.net in THIS thread

Perodua Kelisa - RM 110

Kia Sorento - Rm140 (diesel)

Proton Iswara - Rm108

Nissan Sentra - RM 110

Proton Waja - RM 150

Toyota Rav4 - RM140

Toyota Vios - RM 130

Proton Wira Aeroback - RM 113

Hyundai Accent - RM105++

Honda City - RM 110

Honda Accord - RM162

Please note that this is only the price posted by the forumers, which is sometimes not very accurate, but that's how roughly it is, and please note that the initial volume of the petrol inside the car is not the same for every car, before they fill it in.

I'll keep on checking at the thread and update this list.

Special thanks and credits to

Lowyat.net forum
Those forumers who posted
"AH BOON" the thread starter in lowyat.net

And for those who want to add in their cars and prices, that leave a comment here, or at the shoutbox.. thanks! =)

Losing Weight by Drinking Water?

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:59:00 +0000

I'm not here to give an impossible or nonsense idea on drinking water to lose weight, but this is real, and i have prepared scientific explanations for this. You may think, the water i'm talking about must be some sort of magical water, or some kind of highly modified water, like adding this or that chemical, but NO.. Its only the plain water that you drink everyday..

Aha, lets take a look why this is possible..

Water makes liver works efficiently

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Hmm, you maybe thinking what the heck is metabolism? Well, lets see what dictionary.com says, "the sum of the physical and chemical processes in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained, and destroyed, and by which energy is made available" And from wikipedia, they said "metabolism is a set of chemical reaction that occur in living organism in order to maintain life".. Now, what they are trying to say is, is the process that happen in our body that turns all kinds of stuffs that we ate, into a useful thing to our body, such as energy for instance. However, there are way too many metabolism process occuring everyday, but the one that is highlighted here is, the metabolism of the fat. The ones that does this process is our lovely liver. Liver will convert fats into fuel, which is the energy we need to use in our daily life. What does liver needs badly is water, which without water, the liver can't do their job effeciently.

Water helps Kidney to function properly

Yep, water help to optimize the kidney's processing. But does kidney have anything to do with converting fats again? NO! This is rather giving side effects to the other system. When kidney don't work properly, this will affect the liver, as the liver needs to do "extra stuffs" that is leftout by the kidney, therefore, the liver will actually don't burn the fat as much as it does before this, and the fat will be stored, rather then broke down into vital energy.

Water boost our metabolic rate

As simple as it sounds, the higher our metabolic rates, the more fat we burned. Metabolic rates is the rate where we burn our calories, which water is needed in order to make this process running at its best. Study also shows that, the less you drink, the more fat will be deposited and vice versa.

Water suppress our appetites

Water suppresses our appetites naturally. When our stomach is full with water, we will feel full faster when we take our meal. This make us eat less then we use to. To make this useful, drink a glass of water 5-10 minutes before taking a meal, this will make you feel faster, thus decreasing the calories taken.

Water prevents dehydration

What does dehydration do? Now, as we are dehydrated, our body will start to realize it and they will send a impulse/signals which cause us to become hungry and started to eat something, in order to get back the optimum amount of water. Well, you may ask, why it may be like that and ones may think, when we are dehydrated, we are thirsty instead of hungry. Well, this is not entirely right! the signals sent were the same signals, according to some research.

Other Useful tips

Eat more vegetables and fruits, as it is highly water-dense and high in fibre. Fibre will eventually make you feel full faster and last longer.
Avoid caffein-based drinks and alcoholic drinks such as coffee and etc, this is because they are diuretics, which means they force water out of your body, by urinating and etc
Don't drink alot of water at once, but rather consistently, such as a glass per 2 hours and such. This is because, if you drink 8 litres at once, the body won't be storing the water, but will expell it through urination.
Drink cold water, this is because it will burn more calories.. Why? because our body need to heat up the water first, before it can be use in various processes in our body.
When doing work out, increase your water intake, so that the fat burning process will be more intense.
You are suggested to drink 8 glasses per day, and those who are overweighted, try to take in more.. =)

This is all for now, i'll keep editing this post when i found new research or tips, so keep on checking =) it will be useful to you!
And for those who've tried, you can leave your success story here too!

And please bear in mind that
There's nothing that can make you lose weight in 1 day or maybe a week. It takes lots of efforts and time! so be patient! and don't expect to much when dieting, this will make you give up even faster! cheers!

BannedStory - Maplestory Character Simulator

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:44:00 +0000

When you are playing Maplestory, did you keep on thinking how will your character looks like when they wear this clothes, that weapon or that new shiny hairstyles? Ever felt like punching the monitor when you bought something in the games which cost you a hundred /thousand mil, where it looks damn ugly when you are wearing it?

Well, this will not be a problem anymore, with this Bannedstory, which is a program that simulate your character in maplestory, you can plan earlier what in game items would you buy, that look the best for you. Not only creating your characters, this program include pets, skills and not to forget NX cash item. Furthermore, your character can be animated, to show every angle of your character. It have all types of equipment's classes, NX stuffs, and of course it came with male/females version.

here is the example what the program looks like

The minimun system requirement for this program is

Adobe AIR 1.0 or above already installed
1.0 GHz CPU or above
256 MB of RAM or above
200 MB free disk space
Windows or Mac

And its typically quite small, which is only 124 MB. Between, it's highly skinnable, which make it looks even nicer! And the most important thing, its FREE, Well, nothing is more important than that, am i right :p

And the new features available is

~Random generator

~Support pirate job skills (new class in maplestory)

This great program can be downloaded from here;

SharedZilla or El-Nath and if none of these are usable, visit this link MapleSim

Wallpaper Master - keeps dekstop looking fresh!

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:23:00 +0000

Are you the kind that is always like to change wallpapers? Or you had too many wallpapers that you don't know which one to choose, or simply can't make a decision because all are beautiful?

Here is a program, which called a Wallpaper Master, which can help you change your wallpaper. It's not that useless as you think, this program is a wallpaper cycler, which means they will keep changing your desktop backgrounds for every minutes/seconds which you have set it. The order that they will choose the picture also are highly customizable, for example, in a shuffle mode,listed order, or based on the picture's rating itself.Furthermore, this program will automatically resize the resolution of the picture, according to the resolution of your monitor, which can be configured yourself. It cames with two packages, one is a free and another one is pro version. For pro version, it supports many types of images, such as jpeg,GIF,PNG and etc.

Below is an example of the free version of wallpaper master

The system requirements for this program is very light, which requires only
~400MHZ processor
~64MB of memory
~Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP (sorry for vista user, rofl XD)
* Its not fully vista supported, so u can try it at your own risk. =)
*I'd recommend a better system to handle this program because if you are running many programs simultanously, and the wallpaper keeps on changing, this may affect your working/gaming performance.

The pro/free version can be downloaded here
Wallpaper Master Download

cheers!

Petrol Price Rose Again

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:40:00 +0000

Today, most malaysian were shocked, or maybe not with the government decision, raising the petrol price, from rm1.92 per litre to rm2.70 per litre. In my opinion, the increment is too much already. I thought the increment was just maybe a ten cent or twenty.This is way too much in my opinion, just with the normal petrol price, we live hard with it, and now the price increased so much, how do you think people will survive? Unless we get a special allowance or increment in salary also.
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At first what we heard from our lovely minister is it will be implemented in August.. But suddenly they announced that the price increase starting tomorrow. Its a very stupid lie made by the minister.

Today in wangsa maju, there were massive jam, lots of cars queuing up to the nearest petrol station. And the honking can be heard until now, and i think it's still packed on the road up there. Anyway, i think there will be some kind of riot again. Well i still think that most people are not satisfied by government decision.

I don't have lots of knowledge in this subsidise stuff, but as far as i know, government is giving subsidy to other USELESS products such as cigarette and all those stuff. Although i heard that the subsidy value for it is getting lesser each year, but do you think its even worth to subsidy this? Government subsidy something that can kill their citizens? Isn't it just a waste of money? Why don't just the government spend more money on petrol?

Although i'm not a regular car user, just drive to school and to eat, but the expenses is quite a lot already. My car is only kancil, which normally with Rm40+ i can get the tank filled up already. Now full tank, rm 50+ nearly 60 already.. Wat the heck. The worst part is, if people are switching to public transport, they are very unreliable at the moment.. I've been using LRT and Rapid for almost a year. And i think Rapid kl buses are not punctual at all! sometimes i missed my classes because of this idiot rapid kl. their schedule is supposingly 20 minutes per bus i think, but sometimes it'll be delayed.. Sometimes the bus driver is there already but he just don't drive, for some reasons that i don't know.

An idea to take taxi is even worse.. now taxi driver is very cruel, which like to fake the meter and all those stuff.. I just experience it myself that day. I took a taxi from my condo to school, which is just 15-20 minutes walking distance and it cost me rm3.. what the heck is that? Normally the metre will only starts adding extra digits when it reach 1km or more, i forgot.. But this taxi, i see the meter rise even the first 0.1km, and the taxi driver tries to cover it by using his knee, coz i was sitting behind.. Ahh, i felt like scolding that guy that day.

Well, i hope government can consider this pricing again.

False Positive Dectection From Antivirus Programs (AVG)

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 05:34:00 +0000

This issue might be a piece of cake for somebody, but might be a real headache to some people too. False positive is defined as result that is erroneously positive when a situation is normal. An example of a false positive: a particular test designed to detect cancer of the toenail is positive but the person does not have toenail cancer. Well, this is explanation in other way, but in our computers context, this means that the antivirus program detects a normal uninfected files as an infected ones. This might happen for some reason.
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Sometimes, we are pretty sure that the files or program that we've been using is 100% safe, but when antivirus block them, we can't use them.. We'll usually get an error saying we don't have the permission to run the programs/files. Mostly programs such as those anti-spyware,system enhancer or registry cleaner are the ones that always have this problem.

In order to let them working again, without the antivirus interference, We can exlcude the anvirus from checking the folder or directories that have the programs/files.

I'll show how to do it, using AVG antivirus.

First, right click the icon on the taskbar, on ur right hand side,near the clock. Then, launch control center. After that, in the component list, Choose "resident shield" then click properties(or right click then properties).

After that, from the tabs available, choose "excludes" tab, and then click "edit excludes". A new window will pops up. Now, click "add path" then find the directories that contains your programs/files.
Click Ok and reboot your system for the setting to change. This guide is written using AVG version 7.5.523, which is a pro edition of AVG. it might not works in other version of AVG, and i'm not very sure of that, you can try and leave me a comments here. Thanks for reading.

And please note that i held no responsibility about the outcome of this guide. Try it at your very own risk.

Great Blogger Templates from eBlog

noreply@blogger.com (-- BasilLeaf --) — Sat, 31 May 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Well, firstly i need to thank you eBlog for providing me this great new skin. I think i'll stay on this skin for quite some time, since its troublesome everytime when you change skins/template because you'll need to re-configure the page elements and all those thing.Its a free template, DUH! if it's not free then i won't be using it XD. Free things are great, and my blog too..

so here's the website for eBlog

See, told you my blog is useful.. You maybe won't know there's such a great site if you don't visit my blog.. haha. Enjoy!