Korean Cuisine

This topic is not related to the MIS, but to share about a Korean Cuisine that I experience since I joined my new company. I have joined this company since May 2013, a Korean’ construction company established in Malaysia almost ten (10) years.

(Sources: felixbennet picture)

Korean cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, Korean cuisine has evolved through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.

(Sources: felixbennet picture)

Korean cuisine is largely based upon rice, vegetables, and meats. Traditional Korean meals are noted for the number of side dishes (banchan) that accompany steam-cooked short-grain rice. Kimchi is served often, sometimes at every meal. Commonly used ingredients include sesame oil, doenjang (fermented bean paste), soy sauce, salt, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes and gochujang (fermented red chili paste).

Ingredients and dishes vary by province. Many regional dishes have become national, and dishes that were once regional have proliferated in different variations across the country. The Korean royal court cuisine once brought all of the unique regional specialties together for the royal family. Meals are regulated by Korean cultural etiquette.

 

(Sources: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Korean.cuisine-Kimchi-Jeotgal-01.jpg) 

Kimchi refers to often fermented vegetable dishes usually made with napa cabbage, Korean radish, or sometimes cucumber, commonly fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, scallions, and chili pepper.  There are endless varieties with regional variations, and it is served as a side dish or cooked into soups and rice dishes. Koreans traditionally make enough kimchi to last for the entire winter season, as fermented foods can keep for several years. These were stored in traditional Korean mud pots known as Jangdokdae although with the advent of refrigerators, special Kimchi freezers and commercially produced kimchi, this practice has become less common. Kimchi is packed with vitamin A, thiamine B1, riboflavin B2, calcium, and iron. Its main benefit though is found in the bacteria lactobacilli; this is found in yogurt and fermented foods. This bacteria helps with digestion. South Koreans eat an average of 40 pounds of Kimchi each year.

While soju is the best known liquor, there are well over 100 different alcoholic beverages, such as beers, rice and fruit wines, and liquors produced in South Korea as well as a sweet rice drink. The top-selling domestic beers (the Korean term for beer being maekju) are lagers, which differ from Western beers in that they are brewed from rice, rather than barley. Consequently, Korean beers are lighter, sweeter and have less head than their Western counterparts. The South Korean beer market is dominated by the two major breweries: Hite and OB. Taedonggang is a North Korean beer produced at a brewery based in Pyongyang since 2002. Microbrewery beers and bars are growing in popularity after 2002.

(Sources: http://www.trifood.com/soju.asp) 

Soju is a clear spirit which was originally made from grain, especially rice, and is now also made from sweet potatoes or barley. Soju made from grain is considered superior (as is also the case with grain vs. potato vodka). Soju is around 22% ABV, and is a favorite beverage of hard-up college students, hard-drinking businessmen, and blue-collar workers.

The best part about this company is having a monthly dinner to gather all the staffs; sharing our love, joy, happiness by having “Korean Cuisine”.

(Article Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_cuisine )

YouTube Phenomenal

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005 and owned by Google since late 2006, on which users can upload, view and share videos. The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos.

(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube)

Nowadays, it is a trend for teenage to express their music video includes parody, dancing, singing etc. via YouTube. Najwa Latif is one of them, she uploaded her first music video “Cinta Muka Buku” was popular via YouTube and she now become a recording artist.

(Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2sZTFi3fTg)

Aldrich Llyod Talonding's phenomenal recognition as a teenage singing star.

Aldrich Llyod Talonding and his guitarist cousin James became singing sensation for the past few days now after a video recording of "The Dance with My Father" intended for their relatives in Japan was also posted on YouTube. The singing tandem is circulated and went viral in the cyberspace and many were amused with the singing talent of the 14 year old boy from General Santos City, Mindanao, Philippines.

One of those who was amused with the melodious voice of Talonding is American talk show princess Ellen Degeneres as reported and seen in the ABS-CBN TV Patrol News yesterday saying 'BRING THIS TALENTED FILIPINO KID TO ELLEN DEGENERES' Campaign.

(Sources: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/14530185-aldrich-llyod-talondings-phenomenal-recognition-as-a-teenage-singing-star)

Virtual CV

It has become very difficult to maintain an individual’s identity in today’s competitive job market. It requires hard work to be able to stand out from the crowd. There are millions of job seekers in the job market, some of which are even overqualified for their jobs. With the prevailing hype in the job market, employers are also eager to hire the best candidate among so many.

Paper C.V’s are no more entertained in organizations because technology has just got better than ever. Almost every workplace has now transformed into a high-tech workplace. Luckily, there have been many bright tools for both employers and potential employees to get the best. One such tool is online networking technology.

Just like any paper C.V would do, a virtual CV one delivers the same information about you, but through better and more useful technology. Today, there are many sites which offer customizable templates and free hosting. Rather than mailing a physical C.V, you can connect directly with the employers. All you need to do is to click on the online resume link they have created on their website.

Virtual C.V’s can be easily updated in no time. This gives potential employees a chance to continuously update their information. This option does not restrict you to update any specific areas of the virtual C.V, but you can access and control all the areas in the same manner.

Many host sites allow companies to explore the resume database for different candidates with specific desirable traits. This procedure streamlines the hiring process for every candidate in the process.

A virtual C.V also gives employees the benefit of gathering and displaying all of their work at one place. There are different sites that cater to different industries, such as graphic designers, software engineers, architects, doctors, artists etc. The employees can get a virtual resume and an online portfolio as well that helps them deliver a comprehensive and detailed description of their career history.

The key aspect of a virtual CV is to stay marketable in the job market. This in turn helps you create a professional and updated online presence. An updated online presence signifies a candidate’s technological ability.

An updated virtual C.V not only tells the employer that you are eager to learn new things continuously, but are also willing to demonstrate those skills as well. This is a very strong point for a probable employee to prove his or her application of practical knowledge.

It is very important for prospective employees to maintain an online presence because it helps them go through more opportunities and get noticed by employers in the shortest period possible. 

Example of Virtual CV:-

 (Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYTe_eVyZoo)

Vblogs: What is a Video Blog?

As YouTube continues to dominate the world of online video sharing, more and more business owners around the world are investing in video “vlogging” to promote their brands, products and services business.

A Video Blog is also known as a Vblog or vlog, and is essentially videos that provide commentary on a particular subject, often serving as a personal online diary. A “vlogger” is a video-blogger – essentially, someone who uses first person, piece-to-camera videos to discuss, inform and interact with an online audience. This form of online communication has become hugely popular in recent years thanks to the success of online video-sharing sites like YouTube, evolving from a bedroom pastime to an increasingly effective form of Internet advertising.

However, businesses also make use of Vblogs to promote products and services, provide company overviews, and how-to-videos. Vblogs are open to anyone.

As with many written blogs, viewers can usually leave comments about a Vblog. This makes the experience interactive with the end-user, which is an important element of all blogs. Word of mouth among viewers and users can dramatically increase the popularity of a Vblog. The more popular a Vblog becomes, the more traffic the Vblog will receive. 

Why you should vlog? 

Having an employee or ambassador vlog for your organisation is a fantastic way to interact with a very broad audience. A good vlogger can provide a friendly and memorable face to a company; as well as personifying it’s character and brand values.

If for example, a vlogger is a company employee, not only can this enhance the reputation of his or her colleagues and the team general, it also adds a 'real' factor to the video. Audiences like to see an actual employee talk about the company because the information they deliver is direct and is (usually) reliable, so this should always be the first option to consider.

This kind of vlog is also a form of investment not just in your company, but also in your people, who get to be the stars and faces of the business. When everyone is pulling together for the organisation they work for, this can be a very powerful approach to vlogging. 

Should you invest in vlogs? 

Well...the cost is relatively cheap, it is not particularly time-consuming and done well, vlogging can have mass appeal with the potential to reach millions of people and help generate an enormous amount of revenue for even the smallest organisations. Many companies are benefiting from vlogging and there are no reason yours can’t to.

A decent vlogger can bring many benefits to any company by:

• Directly promoting the services or products to potential customers and clients, in a friendly, engaging and authentic way.
• Generating a loyal online fan base who will help promote other promotional videos across a wide range of social media platforms and video sharing sites. Fantastic free Public Relations.
• Boost the online ranking of a company through searches and related videos, all of which will help rank a website higher in search engine results.

One of my favorite Vlogs:-

 (Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK-bcgaLEnw&list=UU7ee1eW2-Mt6MpRu3Ja4s2A)

External Hard Drive

What is an External Hard drive? 

If you are asking “what is an external hard drive?”, an external hard drive is the ultimate-computer maintenance backup device. How much data it stores depends on how big the hard drive is inside the external case. If you find that there is not enough storage space you can simply remove the hard drive and replace it with a bigger one. Computer backup devices are a part of our lives now as people are accumulating more and more files. Gone are the days of tape backup devices, external drives are the in thing for now.

Most newer type external hard drives connect to the computer via a USB cable. Most computers have a front USB port and therefore make it easy to plug and play or use your external computer backup devices.

 

(Sources: http://blog.gadgettown.com/2011/01/17/best-external-hard-drives-of-2010/)

What does an external hard drive do? 

Once connected to the computer, your hard drive backup device will show up in my computer as another hard disc drive. All you have to do is double click on the drive icon and you can paste or drop any file you like there. Now days people have a 500gb external hard drives or even larger, but the smaller ones are fine too. It all depends on how much space you personally need. 

After connecting your external hard drive, go to the start menu, then computer, then you will see all the drives connected to the computer. C drive is usually your computers main hard drive so the device you just plugged in might be named D or F etc.

The benefits of having an external hard drive; 

1. It’s a portable device – You can easily pick up your external hard drive, take it to a friends house, and connect it to their computer. Most computers have a USB port through which it can be connected. 
2. Safe Backup Device – Because the external hard drive is not permanently connected to your computer, if your system crashes, the information and files on your external hard drive device will still be safe. There this is a great easy secure backup device.
3. Easily upgradeable – If you find that it does not have enough storage space for your backup files you can easily replace the hard drive with a bigger one. You cannot, as yet, upgrade a normal USB Flash drive.
4. Can store a huge amount of Data and files – For example if you had a 160gb external hard drive you could fit movies, backup your files such as music, photos, entire programs, and more on it.
5. Will save your computer from getting clogged up with downloads and large files – If you find yourself downloading a lot of files it is always better to remove them from your computer to store somewhere else. This way your computers performance will not be effected by storing unnecessary files, data, and movies.
6. You can format anytime.

What size external hard drive do you need? 

If you just want to store documents, emails, small backup files, and photos then 20GB is enough for an external hard drive. However if you want to store in type of movie, video footage, large amounts of music, or even entire backups of your system, then you will need at least 100GB or more.

Experience using Blackberry Bold 9900

(Sources: http://blackberry-9900.blogspot.com)

My first Blackberry device is Blackberry Bold 9780 (called as Bold 3), a white color device was purchased last two (2) years. It only take three (3) months using the Bold 9780, when I was decided to change it to a new Blackberry Bold 9900 (called as Bold 4).

During my time in using Bold 9900;

 

(Sources: http://www.prweb.com/releases/blackberry/9900/prweb9875032.htm) 

Battery life

It was an issue when I first got it. I get maxed out within 6 hours with my heavy usage of twitter and email. An OS7 upgrade (OS 7.0.0.439) fixed that problem and I can get through the day on a single charge. Searching for the answers on forums are indeed helpful, if you have the patience.

 

(Sources: http://www.teknoup.com/review/917/blackberry-bold-9900-dakota/)

Music Playback

What do I do when I am not tweeting or replying to emails, I listen to music. I am on the go all the time, and I need my music. And the experience is fair. The easy to control playback controls on the BlackBerry Bold 9900 makes pausing tracks simple when I need to. 

(Sources: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/19/review_rim_blackberry_bold_9900/print.html)

 Browsing

I will not hesitate to say that the browsing experience on the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is better than I expected for such a small device such as Blackberry Bold 9780. This is probably the only time that I used the touch screen on the device. Pinch zooming and double tap zoom are great assists. Pages load very fast. With support for multiple tabs, I never realized that I have opened 9 tabs and still have the browser maintain its shape.

There will be more apps on BlackBerry AppWorld. Thankfully, I still belong to a generation who uses a device for its main purpose, in this case communications. Be it messaging, email or tweeting, the apps I used are conventionally limited, yet the benefit that it gave toward my life professionally and personally are immense. It is no longer a matter of potential to realize how one can benefit from Blackberry usage, but a matter of when, one wants to gain.