Friday, August 27, 2010

Best antivirus / security suite in 2010

What is the best antivirus and/or security suite for home user now?

I believe a good security solution for home computer:

  • should detect most if not all of the virus and malware.
  • should be good in protecting from new/unknown virus and malware.
  • should not have too much false positive.
  • should not diminish the performance of the computer too much. The computer should not be sluggish when the security solution is running.
  • should not consume too much CPU and memory resource.
  • should be fast in scanning for virus and malware.
After reading the comparison and benchmarking reports in these websites...
 I found that the best in 2010 is a competition between these 2 vendors:
  • ESET
  • Symantec
Slovakia company ESET produces the NOD32 Antivirus and the ESET Smart Security suite, while US company Symantec produces the Norton Antivirus and the Norton Internet Security suite.

However, in terms of pricing and availability in retail computer store in Malaysia, Symantec definitely has the upper hand.

Therefore, the best security suite in 2010 for me is Norton Internet Security 2010. I bought a genuine box of it with 1 year subscription to 3 computers at the price of RM100 in Digital Mall recently.

After installing Norton Internet Security 2010, I got free upgrade to Norton Internet Security 2011 with its Norton Update Center.


    Wednesday, August 25, 2010

    Am I scammed by the electronic ultrasonic insect repeller?

    Insect and pest repelling using the electronic way isn't something new and has been around for many years. However, until today, there is still debates and doubts whether it works or not. There are lab tests showing that it totally not working, and other lab tests showing that it does work but not very effective.

    In fact, there are 3 common kinds of electronic insect and pest repeller in the market:

    • Electromagnetic - the device changes the wavelengths of the frequency signals that already exist in the wiring of homes, thus claimed to be able to agitate rodents and insects with these signals.
    • Ultrasonic - the device emits high frequency sound above 22 khz which is unheardable by human being (thus called ultrasound) but is detectable by certain insects and rats. The effect is like putting a loud siren beside their ears and chase them away.
    • Ionic - it is said that certain insects and rodents are sensitive to negative ions, so they won't go near an ionizer.
    Nowadays they are even 3-in-1 products which combine all the features above, but selling at high price of above RM100.

    I have 2 electronic ultrasonic insect repellers in my home, which I bought for about RM20 each in Giant hypermarket. Picture as below.


    In fact, you can easily find in the Internet for circuit diagrams about electronic ultrasonic insect repellers, and can DIY make your own with some electronic knowledge and devices. Some are very simple, and here is a more complicated one from Electronic Circuits website.


    Beside that, there also exist computer software that make use of the speakers to generate pest repelling ultrasonic waves, such as SEA Anti-Mosquitoes XP, KP-Anti Mosquitoes, Ultrafobos, etc. Similar applications are available for mobile devices including iPhone, Palm, etc. For normal handphones, there are also ultrasonic ringtones that you can find and download from Internet.

    Is the small electronic ultrasonic device that I've bought effective to me?

    I put one in my kitchen, quite near to the dining table.

    Well, before using it, I used to disturbed by one or two mosquitoes at night when I used my laptop on the dining table. After using it, so far no more such mosquito disturbance.

    And before using it, sometimes I saw cockroach in the kitchen when I turn on the light there during midnight. Now, so far no such engagement after using it.

    It seems like it works fine for me so far, and I don't feel like scammed, although I've found quite a number of reports in the Internet saying electronic insect repellers are useless.

    Saturday, August 21, 2010

    SunCity declared 31 sen interim dividend

    Sunway City (SunCity, 双威城, 6289) has just released its 2nd quarter report for FY2010, and has declared an interim dividend of 31 sen per ordinary share of RM1.00 each less 25% income tax for the financial year ending 31 December 2010, which will be paid on a date to be determined. If I'm not mistaken, this will be the highest ever quarter dividend declared by SunCity since its IPO.

    In the last quarter, SunCity also declared a dividend of 5% per ordinary share of RM1.00 each less 25% income tax, which has just gone ex yesterday (20 August 2010), which is the same day when the other 31 sen dividend was declared after the market closed. This 5% dividend will be paid on 22 September 2010.

    This means that shareholders of SunCity will get dividend of at least 36 sen per share this year (there is still a 3rd quarter report to be released by this year). With the last closing price of RM3.73, the DY within the last 2 quarters is already 9.65%.

    As expected by everybody, the financial position of SunCity has largely improved after the listing of Sunway REIT, although the actual IPO price of Sunway REIT (SUNREIT, 5176) on 8 July 2010 at RM0.89 is lower than the anticipated RM0.97. I think the shareholders of SunCity are rewarded with this generous dividend, as a result of this IPO exercise of  Sunway REIT.

    The prospect of SunCity remains pretty positive, as written in its quarterly report:

    "On 8 July 2010, the Group completed the listing of the Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust ("Sunway REIT") on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad ("Listing"). The Group holds 36.6% in the Sunway REIT.

    The Listing has reduced the Group's gearing significantly and hence enabled the Group to accelerate it's business expansion plans in the property development segment (local and overseas markets) as well as the property investment segment.

    On the back of unbilled sales of RM743 million, the Group expects the property development segment to continue to contribute positively to the Group's results this financial year. While enjoying lower interest expense resulting from the reduced borrowings as mentioned above, the Group also benefits from the share of profits from the Sunway REIT while receiving manager's fees for the management of Sunway REIT.
     
    Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Board is of the view that the Group's performance for the financial year ending 31 December 2010 will improve."
     
    With this, I feel comfortable and happy to remain as one of the shareholders of SunCity.

    You might probably also be interested to read about:

    Disclaimer: This article is intended for sharing of point of view only. It is not an advice or recommendation to buy or sell any of the mentioned stock counters. You should do your own homework before trading in Bursa Malaysia.

    Hint: Click on the "Older Posts" link to continue reading, or click here for a listing of all my past 3 months articles.