Keith is an architect by day, blogger by night. He’s responsible for all the content on this blog, and irresponsible for everything else.

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So you think English is the lingua-franca of Science…

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I get annoyed when parent associations insist that the Government needs to teach science and maths in English. They argue that because English is the lingua-franca of science, teaching science in English will help students learn more effectively without needing them to translate scientific terms from the vernacular. They add that teaching Science and Maths in English is a great way to improve the...

The PM’s year end cyber-security message

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From: [email protected] Sent: 23 Dec 2015 To: [email protected] Subject: Cybersecurity Year end message. *This message is intended for all Malaysian Government servants only, do not forward without prior approval* Greetings and Salam 1Malaysia. I want to use this year-end as an opportunity to discuss the important topic of Cybersecurity. This year was interesting for me personally, and for...

Keith on BFM

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3-4 weeks ago, I pimped myself an interview on BFM, and yesterday it finally aired. Woohoo!! Here’s the audio, and below are some show-notes you might be interested in if you want to learn more. I searched for these links AFTER the show, so they may not be 100% in step, but good place to start. Your browser does not support native audio, but you can download this MP3 to listen on your...

Hackers and terrorist

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There is no greater danger of tech illiteracy, than the way we treat hackers. A society that doesn’t understand technology will view those who can manipulate it as wizards and sorcerers. Technology sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic, and to most people that bar of being ‘sufficiently advanced’ isn’t set very high. The magic analogy is apt, even in...

Chip And Pin : An intro for Malaysians

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In 2016, Chip and Pin will gradually be introduced in Malaysia, that means your Credit Cards now will prompt you for a PIN instead of signature during purchases. This will be a bit of a hassle, but it will be worth it,  here’s what you need to know about it and credit card transactions in general. The 5 people you meet in card transaction First off, a short primer on credit card...

PSI vs. API, Malaysia vs. Singapore air quality readings

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There’s been some controversy recently regarding the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings in Malaysia, with some even accusing the government of intentionally downplaying the readings. I intended to find out exactly how the readings were different, and as a glorified techie come wannabe programmer I decide to use a data approach to this as opposed to a theoretical one. In case you’re...

The problem with bio-metrics

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Passwords have always been a problem. For a password to be adequately secure, you need a certain amount of randomness (or entropy in geek) associated with the password to ensure it can’t be easily guessed. The password monkey is less secure than the password k3ithI$one$3xydev1l, but the latter is inherently harder to remember (although still very true). Remember you should use a different...

Ransomware

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By now, you either know someone that’s been a victim of nasty malware or have yourself been on the business end of nefarious software. The perpetual duel between security companies and malicious elements in cyberspace has changed dramatically over time, and no change has been so dramatic as the rise of a new type of threat, a threat we call…ransomware!! …but what is Ransomware...

Is Uni-tasking underrated?

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Google reported that  91 per cent of its Malaysian respondents are “multi-screening” with their smartphones, meaning that while watching TV, or working a laptop, Malaysians were at the VERY SAME TIME, using their phones. The Malay Mail reported this as Malaysians being champion multi-taskers, but I look at it as a negative, and instead view it as indication of just how easily distracted we are...

Internet connections speeds in Malaysia

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Not to beat a dead horse now, (you can read my previous articles here and here)but I’ll say it one last time, internet speeds aren’t exactly what we should be debating over these days. We should focus on internet penetration rates, and broadband penetration, and define these correctly. The MCMC defines broadband as anything over dial-up. Which is stupid, because a 128kbps ISDN would...