“If one day the speed kills me, don’t cry. Because I was SMILING”- Paul Walker

Speed played a role in the one-car crash that killed “The Fast and the Furious” actor Paul Walker in Southern California on Saturday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.

Walker, 40, was a passenger in the red 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that crashed into a utility pole and burst into flames in the city of Santa Clarita on Saturday afternoon.

“Speed was a factor in the solo vehicle collision,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

Deputy Mark Pope said the accident was under investigation and he did not know how fast the car was going.

The Los Angeles Times identified the driver as Roger Rodas, 38, a friend of Walker’s who owned Always Evolving, an auto dealership and racing services company.

The sheriff’s department would not confirm that. The company could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

In a message on its Facebook page, the company posted a message that said, “Thank you all for your condolences and prayers while we mourn the loss of our loved ones.”

The blond-haired, blue-eyed Walker was in five of the six “The Fast and the Furious” films about illegal street racing and heists. A seventh installment was in development, according to Universal, the studio behind the franchise.

Walker played law enforcement official Brian O’Conner in the movie series.

The first movie in the series, which stars Vin Diesel, was released in 2001, and a seventh was in development at the time of his death, Universal, the studio behind the franchise, said in a statement. The most recent film, released in May, was one of this year’s biggest box office hits.

“Brother I will miss you very much,” Diesel said in a post on Instagram, adding “I am absolutely speechless. Heaven has gained a new Angel. Rest in Peace.”

 

‘I’m a speed demon’

Walker was a true speed demon — a gear-head, a rubber-ripping racecar-driving adrenaline junkie — long before “The Fast and the Furious” or any of its mega-sequels gave him enough money to afford the world’s most expensive fix.

“I’ve always been into cars,” Walker recently told E! in a conversation light on movies but heavy on his family’s hot-rodding streak. “Growing up with all the car publications around the house, going to my grandfather’s shop … he was the first to break 160 mph with the Ford Falcon back in the day, which was a big deal.”

“I’m a speed demon,” Walker told the interviewer back in May.

She asked how fast he’s gone in a car before.

“Just under 200. I did 197. I just haven’t broken 200 yet, which is driving me crazy! I’ll do it; it’s just a matter of finding the right car. Every car I have has plenty of power for that and everything — it’s just aerodynamics.”

Asked whether his favorite car was something vintage, Walker swerved clear of the loaded question.

“I like old-school stuff, but I’m more of a performance guy,” he said. “I like modern-day technology. I like going fast. And I like precision.”

‘Fast and Furious 7′ delayed

Walker’s next film “Hours” will be released this month as scheduled, a spokesman for Lionsgate confirmed to TheWrap. However, the scheduled shoot today of “The Fast and The Furious 7” has been canceled.

An individual with knowledge of the production schedule told TheWrap that director James Wan, producer Neal Moritz and Universal Pictures executives had been on the phone continually since the tragic news of the actors’ fatal car accident hit on Saturday evening.

The full implications of Paul Walker’s death for “The Fast and The Furious 7” won’t be determined until its cast and crew has had a chance to grieve, but plans to restart the shoot Monday in Atlanta after a holiday break have been scrapped.

Production was more than halfway done when Walker and business partner Roger Rodas were killed, according to two individuals close to the project. Walker and the “Furious” crew were on a Thanksgiving holiday break from production.

Shooting was scheduled for this week in Atlanta, including scenes with Walker, who as Brian O’Conner has been a lead character in every “Fast” movie except “Tokyo Drift.” The production was also slated to move to Abu Dhabi later this month, but it now seems extremely unlikely that the cameras will roll as planned.

 

 

Assasin Creed IV experience the life of pirates

Much like movies, popular ­videogames will inevitably have a sequel — ­sometimes even three or more — and each sequel more often than not turns out to be “not as good as the original.”

There are a few exceptions of course — the Grand Theft Auto series has only gotten better with each subsequent sequel. The other is the Assassin’s Creed series.

While the first Assassin’s Creed was at times interesting but more often a boring open-world game, its sequel, Assassin’s Creed II, was the Terminator 2 of videogames. It improved upon the first so much and added so many new ideas into the mix that we dubbed it the “best open-world game ever made.”

AC II introduced us to a period piece set in Italy during the Renaissance, with an ­interesting and multi-faceted character in the form of Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

In fact, Ezio was so popular he starred in two more AC games, of varying quality.

Then we got a new hero and a new ­setting with Assassin’s Creed III, which not only had an unsympathetic character in Connor Kenway, but was also set during the American Revolution, which, though ­interesting ­historically (at least to Americans) meant that towns were relatively small and sparsely ­populated and there was a lot of ­forest to travel through, both of which are just not really suitable to the type of ­gameplay that the games are known for.

Ekspedisi Kewartawanan ke Taman Negara: Nurturing Nature

Day 1

Everybody set their sail from UNISEL roughly around 8 a.m, thanks to TransRengit express. 32 student were involved in this event, including 2 lecturers from our faculty, Mr. Hasni Meon and Mr. Faizul Mohd Noh. The journey takes around 3-4 hours to reach our destination, Woodlands Resort, Pahang. After we arrived at the resort, we’ve been separated by groups consists of 4 people and each group were given one chalet. we just relaxing and mingle aroud the resort on the first day because the activities only starts on the second day. the opening ceremony was held in the guest hall that evening and it was officiate by Mr. Hasni Meon and Mr. Faizul Mohd Noh. After the opening ceremony, a small activity was been held such as “kotak beracun” and musical chair. the best part of it, the losers of the musical chair has to dive in the swimming pool along with the attire that they’re wear that evening. after the diving ceremony, each of us went back to our chalet and wait for the next day and hoping for the best.

Day 2

the adventure begins. we were up at 7 a.m and our project manager, Marfika Adnan conducted a morning exercise to keep our heads up for the upcoming activities. after the morning exercise, we have our breakfast and wait at the lobby. we were scheduled to have a jungle trekking that morning and followed by rapid shooting and visiting aborigine’s village. what is rapid shooting? rapid shooting is a mind-blowing activity where we sit in a high-speed boat and we were alerted that we will get 110% wet on our way to visit the aborigine’s village at the taman negara. the activities for today is conducted by three trained men from taman negara, Panglima Bogo, Panglima Zalmi and Panglima Jack. all of us were divided into 3 groups and each of the groups is conducted by one of the trekker. the trekker will expaln all about the taman negara and the wildlife inside the forest. after a 1km walk of nature including the Hanging Bridge, we set back to our chalet and rest for a while. after lunch, we change our attire because we gonna get ready to wet that evening. we were advised that we should leave all of our electronic devices at our chalet because we will get extremely wet. the trekker didn’t joke around. the boat was going super fast and we were going side by side with other boat. all of us are so wet as if we dive into a swimming pool. the boat itself flooded with water and we need to scoop it out by ourselves. it was like a war of the water with the other boats. it was extremely fun and divine! about half-an hour of water blasting, we arrived at the aborigine’s village. the aborigines were called Bateq Tribe. according to the trekker, the tribe has been lived there a long time ago and it was related to the tribe from the Africa. the trekker showed us how the tribe live, their believe, their source of living, shelter and many more. we also learned a few of their words.

Alakaba- Apa khabar? (How are you)

Nankaba- Khabar baik. (i’m good)

Os- Api (Fire)

Wella- Selamat Tinggal (Farewell)

Nen- Tiada (no)

these are the few words that i remembered. the tribe people are so friendly and skillful. the male usually, is responsible to hunt animal as their source of food by using sumpit (weapon that they made by themselves), while the female is responsible to make their shelter. the trekker said that if a male is skilled enough with the surviving skills, they were consider matured enough to married. we spend a lot of time there at the village because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. after a while, we were sailed back to our chalet and wait for BBQ dinner. there were a lot of mouth-watering food that night such as grilled lamb, chicken, sausage, coleslaw, mushroom soup and cocktail. after the delicious meal, we get back to our chalet and rest.

Day 3

the final day has arrive. today we were scheduled to the activity that called “Kelah Sanctuary”. Kelah Sactuary is an activity where we swim around the ikan kelah and feed them. the ikan kelah was fully protected by the taman negara and no one were allowed to catch it. it was fun to swim with all the fish was around us. after the kelah santuary, we get back to the resort and get ready to go back to Shah Alam.

in short, it was really a sixty-million dollar experience for all of us. we also got the opportunity to bond our relationship between us as friends and future journalist. it was thrilled and we looking forward to another expedition in future.

First Fire fighter in Kuala Kubu Baru Orang Asli

HULU SELANGOR: The setting up of a new Orang Asli Bomba Community in Kuala Kubu Baru (KKB) will go a long way in boosting the capabilities of  the district’s Fire and Rescue Department.

“The Orang Asli are very familiar with the terrain and when it comes to tracking missing people in the jungle, they are experts,” said Selangor Fire and Rescue department assistant director of operations Mohd Sani Harul.

The KKB bomba community is the first Orang Asli bomba community and was recently launched amidst the lush greenery of Kg Pertak in Kuala Kubu Baru.

It is only the fourth bomba community in the country after the Subang, Gold Coast Sepang and Puchong bomba communities.

The KKB Fire and Rescue Department will hold training sessions once a month for members of the newest bomba community.

“We will train them in fire safety, life-saving techniques, drowning rescue, safety awareness and accident prevention,” he said.

Sani explained that the bomba community would be invaluable in assisting the district fire and rescue department’s efforts.

“In this area, the main problems are floods as well as tourists who come to swim or hike in the jungle and get in trouble. This is where the bomba community can lend a hand.

“The aim of a bomba community is for the Fire and Rescue Department to build a better relationship with a community so that we can help one another.

“We will start with education, awareness and training programmes. When the community gets more involved, then we can step up the training efforts,” said Sani.

He also said that a bomba community could be a stepping stone for the setting up of a Volunteer Fire and Rescue squad.

Kg Pertak Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) chairman Alias Haus said that he was very happy with the setting up of the bomba community.

“Our target is to get at least 20 people from this village to be part of the community,” he said, adding that the village is home to 120 people.

Launched by Selangor State Assembly deputy speaker and Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh, the event was also attended by Kuala Kubu Baru assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong and Hulu Selangor District Council president Tukiman Nail.

Lee announced that RM5,000 would be allocated to the bomba community to run various programmes, while the Selangor state fire and rescue department donated six fire extinguishers.

From left chief Noor Azhar Tajudin showing some fire fighting equipment to Kg Pertak villagers.

taken from: New Straits Times

2015 Badminton World Championships held in Jakarta

JAKARTA will host the 2015 Badminton World Championships, the sport’s govering body said yesterday, more than two decades after the premier event was last played in Indonesia

The Indonesian capital beat Kunshan, a city in China, which hosted this year’s edition, said the Kuala Lumpur-based Badminton World Federation (BWF) in a statement.

“There is clearly significant experience among you in hosting events and in certain instances, specifically badminton events,” BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer said during the announcement in Greece.

Jakarta’s two-member delegation to Athens promised that the city’s Istora Senayan Stadium will offer its famed charged atmosphere come 2015, when the World Championships return to Asia from Denmark.

“It is going to be even better than the Indonesia Open and everybody knows how exciting that is,” declared Bambang Roedyanto, international relations manager for the Badminton Association of Indonesia.

The tournament regularly sees about 400 players from across the globe compete for the title of world champion in five categories: men’s and women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles.

The BWF also announced that the southern Chinese city of Dongguan will host the 2015 Sudirman Cup, the mixed team world championships.

The last time the world championships were played in Indonesia was in 1989. AFP

I’m ready to strike-Cristiano Ronaldo

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a muscle strain and is ready to return to action.

Ronaldo damaged a hamstring in Real’s Primera Liga match at Almeria on Nov 23 and missed last week’s Champions League win over Galatasaray and Saturday’s win against Real Valladolid.

“I no longer have an injury,” Ronaldo said at an awards ceremony in Madrid.

“I have been fine for a couple of days,” added the 28-year-old, who has been on scintillating form this season.

“We preferred not to push things against Valladolid but I will be there for the next game for sure.”

Ronaldo netted 14 goals in his last seven appearances for club and country before his injury and is one of the favourites to scoop the Fifa Ballon d’Or when the footballer of the year award is announced next month.

The former Manchester United man was the last player to win in 2008 before Barcelona’s Argentine forward Lionel Messi took the next four.

“I am on good form,” Ronaldo said. “It’s possible that it is the best start to the season of my career but the past few years have also been very good.”

Real’s next match is a King’s Cup last 32, first leg at third-tier Olimpic de Xativa on Saturday and they play at FC Copenhagen in the Champions League the following Tuesday.

The nine-time European champions are already through to the last 16 as Group B winners. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

taken from: New Straits Times

A fish with a horns

Penang: Rosli Mohd Saad is excited of his recent catch a strange looking sea creature with horns which he caught while fishing in the coastal waters off Sungai Pinang here recentlu

The avid angler said he casted  the fishing net to catch fish fries as baits in the sea near Penang Bridge and was surprised the find the live fish.

He said it looked like a cross between a toad, a puffer fish and a sea horse.

About the size of ping-pong ball, it is greenish-yellow in colour and has a grandular and scaly body like a toad, and a snout-like mouth resembling a sea horse.

The most oustanding feature of the creature was the spikes or horns, like in a puffer fish, on its head and tail. They are sharp and about one-centimeter long.

Rosli said it was a fish since it has gills on both sides of the face.

“This is the first time I have ever caught a strange creature from the sea.

“I want to bring it to the Fisheries Department to identify the creature. Until then, I want to keep and feed it in a special aquarium,” he said.

taken from: New Straits Times

8 Sleeping Positions and Their Effects on Health

1. On Your Back, Arms at Sides

Sleeping on your back with your arms at your side is generally considered to be the best sleeping position  for spine health and it’s good for your neck, too, as long as you don’t use too many pillows. That said, back sleepers tend to snore more than those in any other position and sleep apnea is strongly associated with sleeping on the back.

2. On Your Back, Arms Up

This so-called “starfish” position is also good for the back. Whether you have your arms up around your pillow or not, sleeping on your back may also help to prevent facial wrinkles and skin breakouts. However, like the arms-down back sleeping position, this one can also result in snoring and problems with acid reflux. Plus, having your arms up can put pressure on nerves in your shoulders, leading to pain.

3. Face Down

Sleeping on your stomach can improve digestion but unless you’ve developed a way to breathe through your pillow, it most likely leads to you tilting your face in one direction or the other. This can put a lot of strain on the neck. Sleeping face down can also cause back pain, as the curve of the spine is not supported.

4. Fetal Position

Sleeping all curled up into a ball with your knees drawn up and your chin tilted down might be comfortable but it can do a number on your back and neck. The extreme curl of the fetal position can also restrict deep breathing. That considered, sleeping like a fetus can have you sleeping like a baby if you typically have problems with snoring or if you’re pregnant.

5. On Side, Arms at Sides

When you’re sleeping on your side with both arms down, the spine is best supported in its natural curve. This can definitely help reduce back and neck pain while also reducing sleep apnea. The downside? Sleeping on the side can contribute to skin aging due to gravity, meaning facial wrinkles and sagging breasts.

6. On Side, Arms Out

This position has many of the same benefits of sleeping on your side with your arms straight down. However, any side sleeping can cause shoulder and arm pain due to restricted blood flow and pressure on the nerves, which may be exacerbated by having your arms out in front of you.

7. On the Right Side

If you’re a side-sleeper, which side you sleep on also makes a difference. Sleeping on the right side can worsen heartburn while sleeping on the left side can put strain on internal organs like the liver, lungs, and stomach (while minimizing acid reflux). For pregnant sleepers, doctors typically advise sleeping on the left side, since this can improve circulation to the fetus.

8. Pillow-Supplemented

Regardless of which sleeping position you prefer, it’s highly likely that you can get a better night rest with less pain in the morning by supplementing your body with a pillow. Back sleepers can put a small pillow under the arch of their spine, side sleepers can place a pillow between their knees, and stomach sleepers can place a pillow under their hips to support the joints and allow for full, pain-free relaxation.

Havana,Cuba

Relaxed travel rules to Cuba have resulted in a record number of Americans traveling to the island country over the last few years and have also placed Havana at the top of a newly released list ranking the top-rising destinations around the world.

According to the latest travel report out of TripAdvisor, the Cuban capital – also a UNESCO World Heritage Site – took the top spot for seeing the greatest increase in positive traveller feedback and traveller interest.

Havana beat out 53 other destinations around the world, including La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica and Kathmandu, Nepal, which took second and third place respectively.

According to figures from Cuba’s national statistics office, about 98,000 Americans travelled to the island nation in 2012 – more than double the numbers of 2007 (40,520).

A US trade embargo bars US citizens from traveling to the island without government permission.

However, President Barack Obama loosened travel restrictions in 2011 under a “people-to-people” program that allows Americans to travel to the country with licensed tour companies on cultural, education-based trips.

“Recently… Havana has been experiencing a cultural renaissance, as the city shakes off the cobwebs and pours resources into resorts and hotels,” reads a short synopsis from TripAdvisor.

“Whether you prefer to hot-step it in a salsa club, tour a cigar factory or sip a mojito in one of Hemingway’s haunts, energy buzzes in and around Havana’s historic city centre, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Picture above: The Cuba State Capitol

Here are the top 10 destinations on the rise according to TripAdvisor users:

1. Havana, Cuba

2. La Fortuna de San Carlos, Costa Rica

3. Kathmandu, Nepal

4. Jerusalem, Israel

5. Cusco, Peru

6. Ambergris Caye, Belize

7. Sapporo, Japan

8. Hanoi, Vietnam

9. Corralejo, Spain

10. Fortaleza, Brazil – AFP/Relaxnews, December 4, 2013

taken from: The Malaysian Insider