Archive for September, 2009
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Bryan Gan, 31 of Penang is the only son of a PC hardware business owner.
He created his first website in 1996 when he was 18. It was about
martial arts: Bruce Lee and Shaolin.
He graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Computer Science in 2002.
He then started a sole prorietorship Comdev Software with 2 PCs and a fellow USM student as the only partner.
His company achieved 500% growth in 2005 and represented Malaysia in the 2006 CeBIT exhibition in Germany.
One of his products is Comdev One Admin, a homegrown Content Management System (CMS) which retails for USD299.
I have seen Comdev One Admin in action and suffice to say it will enable him to buy a lot of kitchen sinks!
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
Gadget blog gizmodo.com was launched in August 2002 by Nick Denton, laying the foundation for Gawker Media.
At that time, “blogging” denoted low traffic sites for personal online diaries. The idea that money could be made from it was something new. Quite a few pundits predicted that this venture would fail.
Well, 7 years later in August 2009 Gawker Media has added a further 7 sites to its stable: Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin, Jezebel, Lifehacker, io9 and the smut site Fleshbot.
Some of the blogs have strange names eh? I thought Kotaku and io9 sound like the names of weight loss pills?!
It publishes 353 million pageviews per month to more than 20 million unique readers. In that 7 years, a staggering 8.5 billion pageviews have been delivered. Forbes called it “one of the biggest blogs in the world.”
Definitely Gawker Media has turned out to be an established independent ventures in online publishing.
According to prominent blogger Amit Agarwal, that 353 million pageviews per month should translate to around USD2 million (RM7 million) in monthly revenue at a modest USD5 CPM.
Source
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Next time you are in Kuala Lumpur and are short of money, you might want to check this place out.
At the Ukhwah Restoran Rakyat 1Malaysia on Lorong Medan Tuanku Satu (next to Prescott Inn), the perennial Malaysian breakfast/snack favourite, the combination of roti canai and teh tarik would set you back a mere RM1.00 (that’s about 30 US cents): 40 sen for the roti canai and 60 sen for the teh tarik.
Eating there everyday would enable you to save up for that stone sink, however the health cost is another matter!
Other items on the menu are resonably-priced too:
- chicken rice: RM3
- can of coke with ice: RM1.50
- mixed tomyam soyp: RM4
- iced tea: RM0.80
It is run by a non-profit oriented cooperative: Koperasi Pendidikan Islam Malaysia Bhd (Ukhwah) which was set up in 1998 and has 50,000 members.
Understandably, almost immediately other restaurants in the area asked them to maintain the market price of food. But good news for the customers: for the time being the low prices stay, because there’s still profit to be made:
- actual cost of roti canai: 20 sen.
- actual cost of teh tarik: 42 sen.
Most restaurants make 200% to 300% profit from selling food anyway.
Source
The Star, 19 July 2009
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Some people in China have really become filthy truly rich, that planning for a GMAT prep is the last thing on their mind.
Case in point: a young woman, a Ms Wang of Xian, China bought a Tibetan Mastiff in September 2009 for USD600,000 (that’s more than RM2 million!). The typical price of the breed is between USD1,400 and USD2,000. They are rather rare, but not particularly so.
Ms Wang and her dog
Yes, she bought a dog that costs more than a house for the rest of us.
These dogs have become the new must-have accessory for the ultra-rich in China.
Upon arrival at her hometown’s airport, she and the dog was greeted by a convoy of luxury cars, fellow lovers of Tibetan Mastiffs and a long red banner welcoming the dog.
She was quoted as saying: “Gold has a price but this Tibetan Mastiff doesn’t.”
The dogs are renowned for their skills as watch dogs, traditionally used to guard Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. They are fierce and huge: can reach 80cm in height and weigh up to 80kg.
Source
The BBC, 10 Sep 2009
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