Saturday night special: Biggest full moon of '09

Moon will be nearly full, rising earlier Friday night and later Sunday night

This view of a full moon was photographed by an Expedition 14 crewmember onboard the International Space Station. Earth's horizon and airglow is visible at left.

If skies are clear Saturday, go out at sunset and look for the giant moon rising in the east. It will be the biggest and brightest one of 2009, sure to wow even seasoned observers.

Earth, the moon and the sun are all bound together by gravity, which keeps us going around the sun and keeps the moon going around us as it goes through phases. The moon makes a trip around Earth every 29.5 days.

But the orbit is not a perfect circle. One portion is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to our planet than the farthest part, so the moon's apparent size in the sky changes. Saturday night (Jan. 10) the moon will be at perigee, the closest point to us on this orbit.

It will appear about 14 percent bigger in our sky and 30 percent brighter than some other full moons during 2009, according to NASA. (A similar setup occurred in December, making that month's full moon the largest of 2008.)

High tidesTides will be higher, too. Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher. Scientists call these perigean tides, because they occur when the moon is at or near perigee. (The farthest point on the lunar orbit is called apogee.)

This month's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon from Native American folklore. The full moon's of each month are named. January's is also known as the Old Moon and the Snow Moon.

A full moon rises right around sunset, no matter where you are. That's because of the celestial mechanics that produce a full moon: The moon and the sun are on opposite sides of the Earth, so that sunlight hits the full face of the moon and bounces back to our eyes.

At moonrise, the moon will appear even larger than it will later in the night when it's higher in the sky. This is an illusion that scientists can't fully explain. Some think it has to do with our perception of things on the horizon vs. stuff overhead.

Try this trick, though: Using a pencil eraser or similar object held at arm's length, gauge the size of the moon when it's near the horizon and again later when it's higher up and seems smaller. You'll see that when compared to a fixed object, the moon will be the same size in both cases.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28581233/

:: how does this affect BDC?

Full moon means more fishes coming to shore for sales following the high tides. High tides coupled with continuous rain will result in the natural drainage a.k.a. River Sarawak be burdened with too much water. Water from man-made drainage filled up due to their inability to outflow and lower grounds will experience floods. BDC's staffs staying in area outside TSJ or even as resident of TSJ will be faced with floods in two or more ways:

i. their homes are flooded.
ii. part of the routes to the office are flooded.
iii. members of their immediate families are facing flood problems and they have to be good samaritans to the rescue.
iv. difficulty in driving in the heavy rain.

Men in Black!!

Encik Adam from Audit Negara, on his site visit mission.

Not!!!

Oppsss sorry....Encik Adam is more good looking than this mystery guy which somehow got into the lenses of Encik John Sheu. Now we got Encik Othman complaining. Ok, ok, we will try to get a snapshot of them soon...

2009 KPI!

Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2009

Bye-Bye 2008

If you had missed our annual-end-of-the-year-"high-tea" on the 31st of December, Year of the Rat; shame on you. But there we were gathered, once again, to usher a memorable year away. We had fun, we had tears, we were happy, we were scared - that is what life is all about anyway. We hope that you had enjoyed yours as much as we had ours.

The MENU.

Notice how the food are getting smaller.
the sambal was a hit. Perhaps scarcity make things tasted nicer.

The PEOPLE
Notice how we are getting bigger.
Chiam caught munching.

Harold and Amirul still wondering .. maybe their college's foods are more abundant in quantity and choices.

And outside the pantry door, there is a notice regarding the danger in eating mandarin oranges. Errrrr.... for me to know and for you to find out ;p

Happy New Year!

:: for those whose faces were not shown here, please feel free to leave a note.

HOW TO RENOVATE A HOUSE/OFFICE - by Bryan Lee

The process of renovation can be mind-bending. Just when you've decided to refinish the floors before painting the walls--you realize it makes more sense to do walls before floors. Or is it the other way around? Do you begin to see the problems? When renovating a house, there is an infinite number of ways to skin a cat. But following is one suggested whole house renovation timeline.

1. Design and Planning
Whether it's a sketch on a cocktail napkin or full-blown architectural plans, some type of planning and design always comes first.

2. Roof, Foundation, Siding, Windows
Protect your future renovation work by making certain the house won't collapse on you (foundation, major structural problems) and that it will remain dry (roof, siding windows).

3. Demolition
Depending on the scale of your renovations and the condition of the house, demolition might be the first step.

4. Structural Carpentry
At this time, call in the carpenters for major carpentry projects. Things like: Moving walls, constructing new walls, significantly enlarging window openings, Adding beams to support a greater weight upstairs, Punching in new doors (or removing existing doors).

5. HVAC Ductwork, Electrical, and Plumbing
With the walls and ceiling open, it's time for the HVAC company to install ductwork for central heating and air conditioning. Also with the walls accessible, run new electrical and plumbing systems. Electrical and plumbing inspectors will visit at this time, too.

6. Insulation
Last thing to do with the walls open: install fiberglass batt insulation in the walls and attic. Insulation goes fast, so give your drywaller a call and let him know he's next up.

7. Drywall
A second inspection from the electrical inspector (and perhaps the plumbing inspector) will give you the go-ahead to close up the walls. Drywallers hang sheets of drywall, apply drywall compound, and let the compound dry. After drying, they sand it smooth. Sometimes, they will repeat the process until they achieve a seamless surface.

8. Flooring
Installing the flooring later in the renovation process saves your flooring surface from significant damage.

9. Windows

10. Fine Carpentry
Here's where you introduce carpentry that doesn't involve structural issues. Install baseboards, molding, trim around windows and doors, built-in elements (bookcases, breakfast nooks, etc.).

11. Interior Painting, Wallpaper, and Other Surface Finishes

Painting interior walls, hanging wallpaper, painting molding and trim, staining and sealing trim: all of these detail-oriented surface finishes should be the last items you do indoors.

12. Siding, Gutters
With the house mostly finished, it's safe to put on siding. You don't want to do this earlier (unless absolutely necessary) because doors and windows may get punched out, ruining the siding.

13. Major Auxiliary Building
Last, do major auxiliary building projects like: Additions, Sunrooms, Swimming pools

Large building projects like additions should come last. My view is that you do this last so you don't deplete all of your money and energy on projects not related to renovating the house itself. However, an alternate view is that you may want to build an addition very early in the process so that you don't ruin any work you do in the main part of the house.

Keep It Real!

Amirul Ariffin Bin Kassim

Harold anak Mamat

Amirul and Harold are both from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Unimas. They will be undergoing their third year industrial training with BDC for three months starting 30th December 2008.


:: Note their complexion before the industrial training.

Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1430H