After one month of pumping various music genres through the Altec Lansing ATP3, the verdict is finally out. It rocks! This sleek pair of slim satellite speakers and a mean looking sub-woofer consistently throw out sounds with good fidelity to keep me endlessly entertained.

I am no audiophile but I believe I have an ear for that subtle timbre that sets good sound apart from the mediocre. I know this is one of the older models but the price was within my budget and the satellite speakers just looked so sexy. Plus, the ATP3 have Wuan’s stamp of approval after she had compared the sound from other models in the Altec Lansing range and also the Logitech Z-340, which was my other choice.

Wuan, your effort in trampling all over Low Yat Plaza testing the various speakers, looking for the best bargain and then lugging the box all the way to Penang has not gone unappreciated. It had been noted down in my Buku Nota 555.

A good song is like the fireplace on a cold winter night � it warms the heart and soothes the soul. There are songs that we have listened to a thousand times but never knew who the singer is. These are songs that we can relate to, either because it tells the story of our love, a memorable incident in our life or it is simply pleasant to listen to.

I love songs that have down-to-earth lyrics, one that is simple to understand and meaningful. I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song is one of them. Great mellifluous vocals and excellent guitar accompaniment makes this one of my easy listening favourites.

I did not know who sang it until I did a web search. I have never heard of Jim Croce. Nevertheless, his vocal is rich and comforting. He had such an honest voice that it is heartwarming listening to him sing. Jim Croce died in an airplane crash in September 30, 1973 at the age of 30. His legend lives on in www.jimcroce.com.

… is a dangerous thing. When you think you know bits and pieces more than everybody else does, that does not make you smarter than them. It will only give you the confidence to mess up big time and make you look like an idiot.

My digicam have been eating up rechargeable batteries like no tomorrow. I read in the manual that you have to put the batteries through several cycles of discharging and charging to enable them to reach full capacity.

The charger that came with the camera did not have a discharge function. The manual recommended that I discharge the batteries by leaving the digicam LCD on until the batteries are exhausted. But I had a better idea. I went out and bought a flashlight to discharge them.

My logic, I told Wuan, was that I could totally drain the batteries, fast and cheap, without having to buy an expensive charger with a discharge function. Unbeknownst to me, these rechargeable batteries should not be totally drained because that will irreversibly damage them. That I didn�t know until I had ran through two discharging cycles.

Are the batteries damaged? I do not know because I never had them working long enough to take more than ten shots from the time I got the digicam until now. But what I do know is I am not as smart as I thought I was.

Now I am planning to get the new Sanyo 2100mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries and the Maha MH-204F Smart Charger that can separately charge and discharge 2 sets of batteries at the same time. Have I learnt my lesson? Time will tell.

I have almost forgotten about his on-stage caper at the 75th Annual Academy Awards until I came across his web site. This man is unpretentiously vociferous and boy, has he got balls! Instead of giving a run-of-the-mill acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for his film “Bowling for Columbine,” he ticked off the President of the USA for invading Iraq before his peers in the Kodak Theatre and a worldwide audience from 157 countries watching the live telecast. Go read more of what he has to say about George W. Bush at www.michaelmoore.com.

When I saw the video clip of Ali Ismaeel Abbas who was critically wounded after a missile struck his home in Baghdad, I wept. This twelve year Iraqi old boy lost both his arms and suffered severe burns on his body. He was such a sorry sight.

Now there are stumps where his arms were and his torso is gory spectacle of burnt flesh and skin. He also lost his parents, brother and two sisters in the attack three weeks ago.

Ali did not do anything to deserve such injuries. He will be scarred for life, physically and psychologically. The recovery will be painful and slow. I am certain they are more children, and adults, who have suffered similar fate during the weeks of bombardment of Iraqi cities.

This war may have liberated the Iraqis, according to the USA, but it surely did not do any good to Ali and the thousands of civilians who were killed or are maimed for life. Perpetrators of this war should be punished for crimes against humanity. It is not worth it when even one innocent life is lost. Life is precious. Say NO to war!

Note: Ali’s photo have been removed.