Crossed Code System

CROSSED CODE SYSTEM IN MALAYSIA

Maktab Koperasi Malaysia (MKM) has one courses namely branding and packaging courses. For this courses, our participant will learn detail about branding, how to do a packaging, the machine use in packaging and also how to read a bar code. Here, I want to share with you how to read a crossed code  for every product sell in Malaysia. Each product has a unique line number to identify it. Perpalang code consists of black lines punctuated by white space. The number assigned to identify products intended instead to classify or carry detailed information about the product. There are various symbol codes used throughout the world as the European Article Number (EAN), the Uniform Product Code (UPC), Code 39, Codabar, Interleaved Two of Five etc. Malaysia using the EAN system known in Malaysia as Malaysian Product Numbering (MPN) system. I give some tips how to read the crossed code above is like this:-

955 is Country Codes- Supervised by Association Manufacturers Malaysia (FMM)

6074 is Code Product Manufacturer- It is given by FMM to manufacturers food 

10624 is Specific products- 5 different digits given to manufacturers food by FMM

3- is Check Digit- to check the authenticity crossed code

If you want to know from which country the product had been made is based on the country code. The country code as follows;-

Country Crossed Code

Country Code	Name	Country Code	Name
0-9	USA + Canada	73	Sweden
20-29	EAN reserve	75	Mexico
30-37	Perancis	76	Switzerland
40-43	Jerman	77.9	Argentina
45	Rusia	78.9	Brazil
47.1	Taiwan	80-83	Itali
49	Jepun	84	Sepanyol
50	UK + Ireland	85.9	Czechoslovakia
52.0	Cyprus	86.0	Yugoslavia
52.9	Belgium + Luxemburg	86.9	Turki
54	Portugal	87	Belanda
56	Iceland	88.0	Korea Selatan
56.9	Denmark	88.5	Thailand
57	Hungray	88.8	Singapura
59.9	Afrika Selatan	90-91	Austria
60.0-60.1	Finland	93	Australia
64	Norway	94	New Zealand
72.9	Israel	95.9	Papua New Guinea

Picture and Source from our guest speaker, Mr Mohd Arif from MARDI

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS IN NORWAY

At Holmenkollen

Last August 2013, my company send me and my colleague to Oslo, Norway for the attachment program at Norwegian Cooperative. This is my first time went to European country. The purposes of the attachment program is to learn and share the experiences, knowledge and everything about the cooperative retail industry in Norway. I'm not telling about the program here just i want to share about the transportation system in Norway. Norway has very good integrated public transport system, consisting of trains, metro and bus to move us around the city with ease. Public transport in Oslo is coordinated by Ruter AS. Ruter AS has responsibility for planning, pricing, coordinating and managing the system as a whole .In their public transport, i'm so surprise they have very good system whereby at the bus stop we can know in what time the bus is coming based on the screen putting at the bus stop. Then, if the bus stop doesn't have the screen they were putting the printed paper showing the bus schedule and the buses manage to coming on time at the bus stop. They already manage their time at every station they stop. These is an example that our country, Malaysia could followed for the public transport.

At nationaltheatret station

Another system is the T-Bane system which is popular with commuters and leisure travellers. There are 6 lines numbered 1 to 6 covering much of the city. All lines converge through the city centre in a shared tunnel, so from Majorstuen, Nationaltheatret, Stortinget, Jernbanetorget, Gronland and Toyen stations we can pick up any T-Bane line. There is also a central ring formed by lines 4 and 6 which meets at Nydalen/Storo, north of the city centre. Line 1 is popular with tourists as the primary means of getting to Holmenkollen ski jump and national ski arena, and with locals going hiking or skiing in Nordmarka. We manage went to Holmenkollen ski jump using commuters at Line 1 from Nationaltheatret. This systems is very effective and efficient. We just bought one day pass which is cost about NOK 580 per person, then we can went at any places we want to go under the T-Bane area.

Holmenkollen ski jump

The Norwegian people is very respectful to the pedestrians even the way is their routes. If we want to cross the road they will stop to give a way to us. Also if the car are stopping in the middle of the road for the while such as drop off passengers, they are stopping until the car is moving. They will not cross the vehicle in front of them or press the horn. I'm salute the Norwegian people behaviour.

Picture from my personal collection

Inventory and bar code systems

CONSUMER COOPERATIVE IN INDIA:
BAR CODE AND INVENTORY SYSTEM

Courses Participant from Malaysia (Me at the left hand side)

In 2010, me and my colleagues went to Maharashtra, India for the purposes of retailing and distribution training at Vaikunth Mehta Institute (VAMNICOM). This program is collaboration between Maktab Koperasi Malaysia and VAMNICOM. It take 14 days for the whole courses. During that courses, we were exposed to the cooperative retail and distribution activities. Beside the lectures, the organizer brought us too many places especially to mini market and supermarket whereby to saw their operations there. 

Peanuts and bar code

Going back to Malaysia at Pune Airport

In India, their cooperatives is doing well in retail industry. One of the factors because of the systems they are using such as the bar code and inventory system. Bar code method has been introduced in India a long time ago. In the cooperative store, bar code will be issuing for each item through a monitored system in the web based. For the cooperatives that has more than one mini market branches, their bar code system was controlled by the head office. That's why the cooperative store has a systematic bar code system and duplication of bar code doesn't exists between co-operative stores. While, for the cooperative store does not have branches, they also have a bar code system that is controlled by the cooperative using 'local server'.

Inventory and Bar Code System

 In terms of stock purchase, the cooperative just looking at the web-based system in order to make a purchase. Through this web based, every branch no need to order at headquarters because the headquarters will make it all the orders and purchases for the branches based on the report generate from the systems. Through this system, the headquarters were know the whole amount and the available stock left and the amount of each co-operative store sales every day. What i learn in MIS class all this process was called "Business Intelligence".

Picture from my personal collection

Rempeyek Machine

NEW TECHNOLOGY : REMPEYEK MACHINE

Mr Zulkifli Haron during his presentation

During the festive season, traditional cookies will become popular among the customer. The demand for traditional cookies such as rempeyek, muffins, roses cookies, Karas and bamboo cylinder is also rising. Manually machine is usually not able to cater the request.

In 2012, I brought my students/courses participant to Zull Design Autotronic for sharing their experience in machine technology. And me also already met the owner of Zull Design Autotronic, Mr Zulkifli Hj. Haron. His is very creative and genius person in machine technology. My workplace also inviting him as a speaker in seminar program.  In their place a lot of machine we can found and did not have in the market widely. 

Mostly, when I look the entrepreneur involve in cookies industry especially from home made basis they have their potential customer and high volume of order but they can't cater the order because they are doing manually. Therefore, I would recommend to the entrepreneur that have limited budget and can't afford to buy expensive machine to come at Zull Design Autotronic in Rawang and make appointment with them and also discuss what types of machines they are needed. According to Mr Zulkifli, any entrepreneur who want to order the machine, his company can customize their machine based on the customer budget. I want to share one of the machine introducing by Zull Design. This machine called 'rempeyek' machine.

Picture from google image
Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R22wrv0wkk

Phishing

PHISHING HOW TO PREVENT

• Did you received this types of email before this???. I just received this email this week and this is an examples of phishing email. Please be careful whatever email comes to your inbox especially regarding your bank account. According to the results of Kaspersky Lab’s "The evolution of phishing attacks 2011-2013" survey, the number of Internet users who faced phishing attacks over the last 12 months has grown from 19.9 million to 37.3 million, an increase of 87 %. Facebook, Yahoo, Google and Amazon are among main targets of cyber criminals. The study, which was carried out in June 2013 based on data from the Kaspersky Security Network cloud service, shows that what was once a subset of spam has evolved into a rapidly growing cyber threat in its own right.
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• Below are some tips how to prevent phishing activities:-
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• 1.Guard against spam. 
•  Be especially cautious of emails that:
  * Come from unrecognized senders.
  * Ask you to confirm personal or financial information over the Internet and/or make urgent requests for this information.
  * Aren’t personalized.
  * Try to upset you into acting quickly by threatening you with frightening information.


• 2. Communicate personal information only via phone or secure web sites. 
•  In fact: When conducting on-line transactions, look for a sign that the site is secure such as a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a “https:” URL whereby the “s” stands for “secure” rather than a “http:”. Also, beware of phone phishing schemes. 
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• 3. Do not divulge personal information over the phone unless you initiate the call. 
• Be cautious of emails that ask you to call a phone number to update your account information as well.


• 4. Do not click on links, download files or open attachments in emails from unknown senders
• It is best to open attachments only when you are expecting them and know what they contain, even if you know the sender.


• 5. Never email personal or financial information, even if you are close with the recipient
• You never know who may gain access to your email account, or to the person’s account to whom you are emailing.


• 6. Beware of links in emails that ask for personal information
• Even if the email appears to come from an enterprise you do business with. Phishing web sites often copy the entire look of a legitimate web site, making it appear authentic. To be safe, call the legitimate enterprise first to see if they really sent that email to you. After all, businesses should not request personal information to be sent via email.


• 7. Beware of pop-ups and follow these tips:
  * Never enter personal information in a pop-up screen.
  * Do not click on links in a pop-up screen.
  * Do not copy web addresses into your browser from pop-ups.
  * Legitimate enterprises should never ask you to submit personal information in pop-up screens, so don’t do it.


• 8. Protect your computer with a firewall, spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software
• Do some research to ensure you are getting the most up-to-date software, and update them all regularly to ensure that you are blocking from new viruses and spyware.


• 9. Check your on-line accounts and bank statements regularly 
• To ensure that no unauthorized transactions have been made.  
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• Picture from my email
• Source: http://www.identitytheftkiller.com/prevent-phishing-scams.php

Attract New Customer

• HOW TO ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMER THRU FACEBOOK & TWITTER
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• Today, facebook and twitter is very famous medium of communication especially who want to market their product or services through internet. We can see business trend today especially the small scale enterprise just using facebook and twitter to promote their product. The impact of using these medium is widely whereby all the people can saw through this medium. Below are some impact when we are using facebook and twitter to promote our products or services:-
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• Using Facebook: Assume your business publishes something interesting on your Facebook page and a person following your Facebook decides to share your social media post.  When friends share this post, their friends on the social network can then easily discover your business.
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• Using Facebook: Assume your business publishes photographs of an event related to your business on the Facebook page and then some people get tagged in it (meaning these people’s  profile pages becomes linked with the photo).  There is the likely possibility that some friends of the tagged people will see this photo and consequently discover your business on Facebook.

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• Using Twitter: Assume your business publishes (tweets) on Twitter and a follower finds one of your tweets interesting and decides to re-tweet it.  This means that your follower is taking your original tweet and sending it to all his/her followers.  Those followers who read the re-tweet will  discover your business.
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• Picture taken from http://www.blueskyresumes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/is320.jpg
• Picture taken from http://ruminator.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/twitter.jpg

MITE 2014

MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY EXPO 2014

20-22 February 2014

Malaysia International Technology Expo will be held on 20-22 February 2014 at PWTC, Kuala Lumpur. The exhibition brings in yearly 10,000 trade visitors to the event. This events will brings the creative industry to shows their innovation in terms of  their research and ends products.  For this coming events, the organizer will introducing two new awards which are Asian Youth Innovation Awards 2014 and  Leap to Commercialization 2014.

For Asian Youth Innovation Awards: It lends the youths a platform to exhibit and share their work with the public; allowing them first-hand experience of participating in the ‘real world’ so to speak. Asian Youth Innovation Awards 2014 is open to public and private secondary/high school students including polytechnics and colleges. While, for Leap to Commercialization aimed for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small to medium enterprises to introduce new products to the market.

I plan to bring my family for this coming events. We can take this opportunities to enhance our knowledge and skills about technology. Insyaallah, with the knowledge and skills that we gain from this program could helping us to applying it in our organizations. Come and join me at this event :) 

Representative from Limkokwing University at MIT Expo

Picture from http://eventle.com/data/events/1828-mte-logo.jpg
Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9eiYlN5FE4&list=PLfGwEoDjZ37kJ8BQv6yY540RwE-yvbVyT

 

Robots

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

In Malaysia, we are not very aggressively using robots in the workplace. What I want to share here is Universal Robots. Universal Robots now targeted ASEAN country as a potential customers. Based on my reading, Universal Robots has reinvented industrial robotics with lightweight, flexible robot arms. Tasks previously thought impossible to automate due to cost and complexity, are now achievable with the user-friendly robots. Instead of expensive sensor technology, the UR5 robotic arm utilises a unique patented technology to measure electrical current in its joints to determine force and movement. The innovation enables the robot to undercut the price of other automated solutions. This enables medium and large-sized enterprises to automate production previously unthinkable. “Enterprises will be glad to know that UR robots are cost-efficient and have short payback periods of only 12 to 15 months,” 

In more than 45 countries, from the small machine shop to the large auto assembly line, Universal Robots optimize production, relieve employees from strenuous or monotonous tasks, and ensure quality control. Many companies worldwide have invested in UR robots to save on manpower, whereas others have used them to boost product quality and productivity. Sometimes they are used in repetitive tasks to improve working conditions for employees.

From my point of view, Universal Robots can help our production process to become more efficient and effective especially manufacturing industries. Industries in Malaysia could have a look to this technology in order to optimize their production. UR has two distributors in Malaysia which are Automation Systems & Services and Systech Control. We can contact both of them for more detail information.

Source from http://www.universal-robots.com
Picture and video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQj-1yZFEZI#t=58

Powerdock 5

GRIFFIN POWERDOCK 5

I plan to buy this gadget this year from amozon.com. It because in my family we have a lot of gadgets, it can be hard to find a place to charge everything. There are docks on the market that can charge multiple gadgets, but many of them seem to be just for Apple products. I already survey this gadget and found the PowerDock 5 from Griffin offers a solution to store our gadgets neatly as they all charge from a single power source. Although the box indicates the charger if for iPad/iPhone/iPod, it should actually work with most any USB-chargeable gadget.

Each of the PowerDock 5's charging bays are separated by clear plastic dividers and feature small cable runs in between, which makes for convenient cable management if needed. The bottom is also covered in rubber, so it won't slip off of smooth surfaces. That said, the way it's laid out also makes it kind of awkward looking unless it's positioned correctly. The power cable (which features a rather large brick) comes out of one side... or it could be the back, depending on how you use it.

PowerDock 5 is optimized for iOS devices (iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, iPod touch, iPod nano). It promises to keep our work area free from a tangled mess of cables. Each of the five charging stations can hold an item the size of a tablet. The design is also stylishly minimalistic and I really like how it looks . Overall, I think this gadgets is very useful and hopefully I will get this gadget before end of this year. Need to work hard to get the allocation budget for this gadget :)

Review of Griffin PowerDock 5

Picture from http://store.griffintechnology.com/powerdock-5-device-charger
Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyppUIP7Odk

Original or Fake

WHICH COUNTRY YOUR HAND-PHONE MANUFACTURED

This codes can be tested on iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola phones. However, it should work on any brand.

Press *#06# on your phone and the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number appears. Then check the 7th and 8th digit.

Phone IMEI No.

1    2    3     4    5    6    7th  8th   9   10   11   12   13   14  15
x    x    x     x    x    x     ?      ?     x    x     x    x     x    x    x

IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 02 or 20 this means your cell phone was assembled in China which is of low quality.

IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 08 or 80 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Germany which is of fair quality.

IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 01 or 10 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Finland which is of very good quality.

IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 00 this means your cell phone was manufactured in original factory which is the best phone quality.

IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 13 this means your cell phone was assembled in Azerbaijan which is of very bad quality and may also be dangerous for your health.

Other 7th and 8th digits exist representing other countries.

I already tried for my Samsung Grand and Samsung Galaxy Young but the number appear is 05. So i do not know it represent  in which country? Whatever it is, hopefully I can used it for a long time. But until this time both of my hand-phone is user friendly and in a good conditions...

Picture from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNC84JeofvAgj8uD2F9iLJuK2IAjgJoGFpwr93nfiMA-Tu8_zkoU21SNGJwbFtzutnWiiUaNlX4dVdSrp_yCKGpkRUMeDjmn48yidG5a-lz_skUTc3Mq2kYF2o8bZK10Z_lZ_1Z8uv3vJ/s72-c/Check+IMEI.PNG

Source from  http://www.citehr.com/138229-how-check-your-mobile-cellphone-original-not.html

Notebook Brands 2013

BEST & WORST NOTEBOOK BRANDS 2013

These are the Laptop staff review of  best and worst notebook for year 2013 :-


Apple is No.1

For four years now, Apple has held onto its first-place finish. The brand took top honors in five of eight categories, including reviews, design, keyboards and touchpads, display and audio, and software. And it grabbed second place in our tech support category. Since every laptop from this company has earned high marks, it’s no surprise to us that Apple continues to epitomize the best of the best.

Lenovo is No.2
Still hot on Apple’s heels, Lenovo keeps its second-place finish for the third year running. There’s no doubt that the company’s solid second-place finishes in reviews, tech support, design, and keyboard and touchpads had a lot to do with its placement. Taking the top spot for value and selection as well as innovation was also key. We’re particularly impressed with Lenovo’s venerable ThinkPad and head-turning Yoga lines. And with up-and-comers such as the Thinkpad Helix convertible, we’re sure the company has a bright future.

ASUS is No.3
Jumping up the ranks from last year’s fifth-place finish, ASUS made big strides in keyboards and touchpads this year while sharing the top spot in innovation with Lenovo. In particular, we were impressed with the first Ultrabook to the discrete graphics party — the Zenbook Prime UX32VD. Plus, the UX31A’s much improved keyboard and high-resolution display definitely helped this brand earn the bronze metal. We expect big things from this company in the coming year.

Whatever it is, it depends to the consumer itself. Like me I'm prefer a Sony VAIO Laptop because of the features, warranty and design. I bought my Sony VAIO on 2009 and so far the laptop not giving me a problems. The price also affordable and with Sony you can extend your warranty until 3 years. Apart of laptop, others electrical product like television and camera also I choose Sony brand.
 

Picture and source from http://blog.laptopmag.com/best-worst-notebook-brands-2013/3

iPhone 5s Camera

• APPLE NEW iPHONE 5s CAMERA
• 
  
• Last week I went to my favourite IT shops at Digitall Mall, Petaling Jaya. I'm fallin in love with iPhone 5s. What I want to share about this iPhone is their camera technology. For me this is the best camera technology compared to other smart phone. It has their own specialities as belows:-
• 
  
• * Higher resolution and more automatic tech to make sure our     photos are perfect
• * Can take 10 photos at once and picks the clearest
• * Have the 8 megapixel resolution of the iPhone 5, 1.5-micron     pixel size (more light can get in)
• * Can capture more detailed photos in low light. 
• * The phone also automatically adjusts the white balance, exposure, tone map, and     auto focus
• * An action shot, it can auto-stabilize by taking multiple shots and blending the          sharpest parts into a single image
• * If you feel like slowing life down, you can play back your 120-frames-per-second    videos at a quarter speed.
• * Can hold down the shutter to activate the camera's new burst mode, which takes 10-frames-per-second and will suggest individual shots or a sequence of the best photos.
•  
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Here is iPhone 5s Camera Test

Picture from https://iphone.maxisdevices.com/roi/?gclid=CPzf_LK5m7oCFcIA4godYhEAtQ
Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlMtAv_-_9I

Smart Watch

SAMSUNG GALAXY GEAR (SMART WATCH)

Face time: The home screen of the Galaxy Gear can show the time, local weather, and news headlines

The Galaxy Gear is a full-color Android-based device about the size of an old calculator watch. It runs its own applications and was shown running apps developed by both Samsung and third-party partners. It can take photographs through a camera mounted on the wristband, facing away from the wearer, and has a pedometer that can track the wearer’s activity.

This smart watch can also make and receive phone calls and capture photos and video with the Gear's 1.9-megapixel camera, all of which work as advertised, gimmicky as they may be. It was able to safely take calls while driving with both hands securely on our steering wheel and shoot surprisingly good pictures, especially considering camera's specs and its confined housing.
 
From my point of view, this smart watch has many function to do. This is suitable for the persons who are always leaved the phone in any place and loose their hand phone. It because  when this phone become a watch we will wearing  it at our hand, therefore to minimize the risk of loosing the hand phone, people can think this type of gadget to buy:):)

Preview of Samsung Galaxy Gear

Picture and source: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/519051/is-samsungs-galaxy-gear-the-first-truly-smart-watch/ 

Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGmLpIXmjZE