The Citadel: The World's First Floating Apartment Complex

Since Holland is mostly under sea level, keeping houses from flooding is a constant problem. This concept fixes that problem by just having an apartment complex that floats.

The Citadel is the residential part of the "New Water" complex, which tries to embrace Holland's waterworld-ness instead of fighting it. It'll have a floating road to the mainland as well as plenty of boat docks for its 60 units. Apparently it'll also be 25% more energy-efficient than an equivalent complex on land by using the surrounding water for cooling. It looks kind of crazy, but the sort of crazy that could actually work.

Source: Dan Nosowitz (Gizmodo)

Malaysians consume 26 teaspoons of sugar every day, says CAP

Source: Winnie Yeoh (The Star Online)

GEORGE TOWN: Malaysians consume an average of 26 teaspoons of sugar per person daily, revealed a 2005 survey. And early this year, the country was ranked the world’s eighth highest sugar user.

In the 70s, Malaysians only consumed 17 teaspoons of sugar per person per day. Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the consumption might have increased further by now, as the last research was done in 2005.

He said Malaysians consumed sugar in the form of, among others, soft drinks, condensed milk, flavoured drinks, junk food and even breakfast cereals. A CAP survey revealed that some drinks and food contained 10 teaspoons of sugar in one serving.

Idris said a brand of orange juice contained 40.8 teaspoons of sugar in a two-litre pack while a brand of cordial syrup had 200 teaspoons in a two-litre bottle.

He also said former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad revealed earlier this year that Malaysia was the eighth highest sugar users in the world.

He said the International Diabetes Institute recorded Malaysia as having the fourth highest number of diabetics in Asia with 800,000 cases in 2007, which was expected to increase to 1.3 million in 2010.

“Sugar is linked to over 60 ailments such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart problems, osteoporosis, kidney problems, asthma and allergies.

“According to the Health Ministry’s statistics, 11.6 million of the 16 million adults nationwide are sick with a non-communicable disease like diabetes, hypertension or cancer.

“Malaysia has the most overweight and obese people in Asia with 54% of the adult population either being obese or overweight,” Idris told a press conference at CAP office yesterday.

“Thus, CAP calls on the Government to work with food manufacturers to avoid sugar in their products,” he added.

He also urged the Government to make it a requirement for manufacturers to graphically display the sugar content in their products by the number of teaspoons as well as colour labelling with red, orange and green indicating the sugar level as high, medium or low respectively.

“The Government should also stop advertisements of highly-sugared drinks and food during children’s television viewing hours, and educate schoolchildren and the public on the dangers of excessive sugar intake,” Idris said.

Love Child Of An Accordion And A Thermos Keeps Your Milk Fresh Longer

Source: Rosa Golijan (Gizmodo)


Meet Fresh, the amazing Shrinking Milk Jug, who will keep your milk fresh for up to a week longer by eliminating the air void which makes it go bad in the first place.

"Normal milk jugs trap air inside them, which causes the milk to spoil rapidly," but with its innovative spring frame design, Fresh will eliminate those air pockets and leave you more time to enjoy that tasty white stuff. Fresh is easy to use as it stays on the table and you pour simply by pressing down on the container. (So, no more milk-drenched pants either!) Oh, and it's reusable, too

Malaysia PM unveils measures to boost investment

Source: Razak Ahmad (Reuters)

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian premier Najib Razak announced on Monday more populist measures aimed at boosting investment and countering opposition gains, including a promise to slash street crime.

Najib said the government would cut crime by 20 percent, tackle public service graft, expedite rural development, improve public transport and widen access to quality educational institutes, the state news agency, Bernama, reported.

"All these are being done to ensure that in the final analysis it is the people who will derive the benefits," Bernama quoted Najib as saying.

The prime minister set a deadline of 2012 to reach these targets, a year before his Southeast Asian country must hold its next polls.

The opposition won control of five of Malaysia's 13 state assemblies and denied the ruling National Front coalition its once iron clad two-thirds majority in parliament in an unprecedented electoral performance last year.

More than 10.9 billion ringgit ($3.10 billion) would be allocated for the measures, although Najib did not specify the source of funds for the spending.

To curb street crime, Najib said police would get additional equipment while the government would also consider setting up a special tribunal or court to speed up prosecution.

They are the latest steps to help Malaysia become more internationally competitive and win back investment, which Najib has announced since taking over from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April

Najib's approval ratings have surged recently to 65 percent from 45 percent, according to a survey by independent polling outfit Merdeka Center.

But analysts said his popularity could take a hit over public anger about the death of an ethnic Chinese from the opposition camp who died under mysterious circumstances after being questioned and released by anti-graft officials.

Political discontent has been brewing following a botched government takeover of an opposition state in February and the coming trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Abdullah led the ruling National Front to record wins in the 2004 general elections, but was forced to retire early after voter grouses including unhappiness over failed promises to fight graft led the government to its worst defeat in polls last year.

Veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party, one of the three parties in the opposition People's Alliance, said Najib's promises to cut crime and graft were not new.

"Again, we are hearing promises which will end up just being rhetoric because the question is whether the government has the political will to really deliver," said Lim.

Malaysia and Pareto

Source: The Star Online (Stephen C.M. Wong)

We appear to either forget to target the vital few or cater to them too much

I conservatively estimate that about 10% of Kuala Lumpur road users commit traffic offences every day.

Driving into the city in the mornings, for example, queue jumpers using the bus and taxi only lane along the Federal Highway quite often equal the number of motorists in the legal lanes.

Add to this, speeding, red light jumping, traffic obstruction, illegal parking and all-round reckless driving, and the numbers quickly add up.

Even a relatively small figure of one-in-10 road users, however, can impose significant costs and hardship. With more than 16 million motor vehicles on the road – apparently Malaysia has the third highest motor vehicle ownership per 100 persons in the world – such road users contribute to an inordinate amount of delays and accidents.

Most of these offences, however, will go unpunished as it is logistically impossible to police such a large number of offences committed each day. The KL traffic police chief was quoted in The Star last year as saying that 12,000 summonses a day were issued nationwide, a tiny fraction compared with the total offences committed.

Imagine what would happen if my estimate were to double or triple. KL traffic would be gridlocked and resembles that of other Asean capitals or worse. The authorities would be forced to raise traffic fines further and set up more roadblocks. Traffic cameras are already going to be introduced at 200 hotspots this year to try and counter this problem.

Even this, however, may not be enough. Enforcement is necessary to ensure that a minority of Malaysian road users do not affect or, worse, negatively influence, the rest. Whether the road system functions smoothly depends critically on paying close attention to the minority, not the cooperative and law-abiding majority.

So what do road users have to do with the Malaysian economy? More than a century ago, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto noted that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the people. This observation has since evolved into the law of the vital few, or how a relatively few countries, companies and people dictate most economic outcomes.

We, in Malaysia, appear to either forget to target the vital few or else we cater to them too much. What often happens is that policies are made to achieve certain goals but forget to take into account how they impact the major stakeholders. The consequences are then policy reversal, non-implementation or rejection.

At other times, though, policies may be pursued to suit the desires of the vital few to the detriment of the wider public. Many of the early first generation privatisation concession agreements were so heavily lopsided in favour of concessionaires that they have extracted a heavy financial and political toll on successive governments.

Policymakers have therefore to constantly balance the interests of a few against those of the many. This is no easy task when taking public complaints to the streets has become a common practice. Populist policies may make governments more liked (or less disliked) but they also run the real danger of being growth-reducing rather than growth-inducing.

At this point in the economic downturn, there is a need to be coldly practical rather than fuzzily ideological. The country has to restart its economic engines and run them at high speed if it is to have any chance of a substantive recovery. The global economy may have hit rock bottom but the economic rebound has yet to be determined.

For this to happen, the vital players will have to be co-opted. Malaysians have come to regard the Government (and political leaders) as all-powerful but when it comes to the economy, this is far from not true. The Government can spend, it can tax and it can redistribute but it cannot sustainably create wealth.

If the needs and interests of the vital few are ignored, they will invariably take their business elsewhere. And in today’s globalised world, there are more than a few countries waiting with open arms to embrace them if we do not. This is the singular problem that countries in the middle income trap, like Malaysia, face: competition and an abundance of other options.

The liberalisation policies of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak were not a populist measure. They did not immediately benefit the many and, indeed, appeared to take away privileges from them. Liberalisation, however, appeals immensely to those in a position to take advantage of them. In so doing, jobs and incomes are created for the masses.

Having made a brilliant start, it would be a tragedy to return to half-hearted measures. Already, there are cross-signals whether Malaysia is willing to do what it takes to be a serious economic player of the future. In recent weeks, international media coverage has focused on the negative developments in the social and political spheres, not the economic.

Efforts will have to be redoubled. The stakes are very high. But until Malaysians put aside their wishy-washy mentality and show that they have the real mettle and fortitude to pursue a vigorous course of economic transformation, they will convince no one that the rhetoric of their speech will lead to real actions

Caffeine-drinking teens lack sleep

Source: UPI.COM

PHILADELPHIA, July 25 (UPI) -- Teenagers who Web surf, text message and consume caffeine at night are more likely to fall asleep during the day, researchers in Pennsylvania said.

Philadelphia's Drexel College of Nursing studied adolescents who used multiple forms of technology late into the night while drinking caffeinated beverages, lead author Dr. Christina Calamaro said in a release Friday.

Of the 100 students ages 12 to 18 studied, 66 percent had a television in their bedroom, 30 percent a computer, 90 percent a cell phone and 79 percent an MP3 digital audio player, Calamaro's team wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

Eighty percent of the teens reported getting less than 8 hours of sleep on a school night, while at least 30 percent reported falling asleep at school. Those who fell asleep at school on average had a caffeine consumption 76-percent higher than those who reported staying awake, she said.

"Even though we know adolescents are on a different time schedule than adults, we still need to get them less wired at night," Calamaro said.

Calcium found to cause 64% more hip fractures

Source: DR. W. GIFFORD-JONES (Edmontonsun.com)

How many of us are not taking calcium supplements today? Not many if my patients are a good sample of what's happening.

But do you know that calcium supplementation may cause an increased number of hip fractures? And can meat help to make stronger bones?

Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari, professor of clinical research at the University Hospital in Zurick, Switzerland, is a world authority on calcium metabolism. She's also a visiting professor at Tufts University in Boston and says the science behind calcium is not as simple as most people believe.

CONTRADICTORY FINDINGS

Bischoff-Ferrari reports in a Tufts health and nutrition letter that two major studies have come up with contradictory findings.

The first study analyzed 19 different trials and found no overall benefit to taking greater than average amounts of calcium.

One would think that the logical conclusion would be, don't take too much or too little calcium, normally a wise approach to many medical issues.

However, the trouble in life, as one wise sage commented, is that there are always "Buts" which upset the applecart.

In this case a second more recent study showed that calcium supplementation decreased the risk of bone fracture by a whopping 72%! And that type of figure is hard to ignore.

So who is right about calcium supplementation?

Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari says that the most important thing to remember is that bone is not just calcium, and that this mineral does not function in isolation.

In fact, her studies came up with two major surprises.

She reported that higher calcium intake does not decrease the number of hip fractures, the most common and serious fracture among the elderly.

But what is more shocking is the suggestion that taking calcium supplements without vitamin D may cause a 64% increase in hip fractures! That's also a figure that's hard to ignore.

So what could be causing the increased number of hip fractures in those who are popping their calcium pills every day?

One explanation is that there must be a balanced amount of calcium and phosphate to build calcium into bone. And that some people, particularly the elderly, are not eating enough protein to absorb sufficient phosphate.

This is good news for me. Now I can tell my anti-meat friends that a good steak provides protein and also ensures adequate amounts of phosphate. This, along with 1,000 units of vitamin D daily, will provide good insurance against brittle bones.

VITAMIN D FIRST

So Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari says it's time to reverse our brains and think about vitamin D first, and then calcium. And if we have enough D, we will automatically increase calcium absorption.

Bischoff-Ferrari adds that vitamin D has another important benefit. It improves the strength of muscles.

She says muscles need three things, vitamin D, calcium and protein. Moreover, there is good evidence that adequate amounts of vitamin D prevent both falls and broken bones.

So how can we all get sufficient amounts of vitamin D? We obtain this vitamin from the sun.

But in Canada and northern parts of the U.S., there is zero help from the sun between October to February.

During these months the sun's rays strike the earth at an oblique angle, making it impossible for the skin to manufacture vitamin D.

And as the skin ages, or if sunscreen is used, less vitamin D is produced.

I remind my patients that milk isn't just for kids. But milk only provides 300 milligrams of vitamin D per glass. So I also tell them to add more salads to their diet, such as lettuce, celery and other vegetables. Remember that cows get their calcium from grass.

But diet alone will not enable you to have a sufficient amount of D. So it's prudent to take 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily as a supplement.

I'm also going to make sure I'm not phosphate deficient. I've known for a long time that having meat as part of your diet has many virtues.

But I wasn't aware that a lack of protein could make me phosphate deficient and increase the risk of fractures. I can hardly wait to order my next rare steak.

Three key elements in savings

Source: The Star Online (Yvonne Tan)

So, you’ve worked for some years now. How do you know if you are doing “well” when it comes to saving your money for a rainy day? Is there a magic number which tells you how you are faring?

“As a rough guide, one should set aside 20% to 30% of one’s net income every month for savings,” says licensed financial adviser Jeremy Tan of Standard Financial Planner.

“Saving is important because when you save you are preserving wealth for future consumption,” he tells StarBizWeek.

Generally, there are three key elements to one’s savings.

“If you have these in place, or are on your way, you are faring ‘well’,” Tan says.

“First, one should have what is called an emergency fund, this should equal at least six months of your current net income.

“This fund is set aside in the event you lose your source of income unexpectedly, so this should keep you going until you find another job,” he said.

Next is your life-risk fund, which is basically funds to be used when a person loses the ability to earn an income, i.e. becomes paralysed or ill.

This is normally accumulated via an insurance policy. Here, one should ensure that the funds are equivalent to at least five years’ annual income, according to Tan.

“So, for example, if you earn RM5,000 a month, which translates to RM60,000 a year, then you should buy a RM300,00 policy,” he says.

Third, you should set aside some money for generally safer investments such as property and blue-chip stocks.

“This should garner you some decent returns but you have to be careful of your choices,” he says.

“Following these principles is a good start to securing your stash,” Tan adds.

Comparing the amount you have tucked away with that of individuals of your same age simply to gauge how “successful” your savings strategies are is not a good benchmark, says another industry player.

“People like to do that but there is no point in comparing yourselves, say, if you are a 30-year-old to another 30-year-old, because every one has different goals and different lifestyle, not to mention different income levels” says Keith Hiew, wealth adviser at Freebase Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd.

“There is no golden rule that says that at age 30, you should have this amount and so forth. You save within your means but you have to save,” he says.

“You know you are saving ‘enough’ when that savings are able, in your comprehensive and integrated financial plan over your lifetime, to cover your education, retirement and other goals,” says MyFP Services Sdn Bhd financial planner and managing director Robert Foo

“The wisdom in financial planning is save what you have first and then spend the rest,” he says.

For R. Kumar, a single, 30-year-old engineer who earns about RM40,000 a year in net income, savings are top priority, simply because “I cannot afford not to save.”

“I scrimp to save and invest a little every month but I make sure I do because I know my Employees Provident Fund (EPF) money is not going to be enough for my old-age,” he says.

A recent survey by the EPF showed that around 90% of the 5.7 million active members had less than RM100,000 in their accounts and more than 70% would have exhausted their money within three years of withdrawing the lump sum upon retirement.

Generally, Malaysia enjoys one of the highest savings rates in the world at 34%.

In the United States, during the economic boom that took place between 2005 and 2008, a credit-fuelled consumer spending craze effectively brought the US savings rate to zero.

Ahmad (not his full name), a 40-year-old private school teacher says he supplements his income by giving tuition. “The extra income earned is saved and invested,” he says.

“Based on my income alone, I am not able to save much, that is why I do extra work.

“You’ll be surprised to know how much I have saved over the years,” he says gleefully.