Fuel Rebate Claim

With the price increase of fuel, the government came up with a new subsidy mechanism that requires those who own a car to claim this rebate via the Post Office. Since this came in place, post offices have been filled to the brim and sometimes waiting for your turn can be pretty long!

To address this very issue,Pos Malaysia Berhad now allows collection of fuel rebates through its online portal at Pos Online. All you need to do is sign up for a Pos Online account and login with your username and password. Then go to Cash Rebate Online and click on Cash Rebate. Key in your number plate and the other information required. You can then select either Money Order or Bank Account Deposit as your mode of payment.

For the Money Order option, a Money Order will be posted to your registered address within 7 working days of the online transaction. For the Bank Account deposit option, your money will be credited directly into your bank account within 3 working days. For those who renewed their road tax before it expires, you can only perform the rebate transaction online 3 days after the road tax renewal. If you experience trouble with the system, give 1-300-300-300 a ring.

Finally a more practical system for those who really dont have the time during working hours to endure the headache of a que at the Post Office.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Gantry system to be tested

Good news!! Very soon you wont need to slow down then your approaching your toll booths. The current system allows you to pay by cash,touch”n go or smart tag. Even with the smart tag you need to slow down to a certain speed to ensure the readers detect the smart tag and the barrier opens up.

The brand newtoll gantry system will undergo testing at the Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong’s Sungai Penchala Toll Plaza from November 2008 onwards.

Highway Authority director-general Datuk Mohamad Razali Othman says the new toll gantry system is more efficient compared to the existing infrared-based SmartTag system as there are no boom gates that force motorists to slow down.

The new microwave-based onboard-unit that is claimed to be able to detect motorists passing through the toll gantry even at speeds of up to 180km/h. There is one big big problem that is brewing, since there are no boom gates, motorists without the SmartTag system or the new microwave-based unit can just drive through without paying. Datuk Mohamad Razali says they are still figuring out how to go after such cases. Oh no, how do you solve this problem. Now Datuk…lets take a peak across the cosway and lets see what our friendly neighbours are doing to resolve that problem.

Ugly looking device that ALL vehicles in Singapore have

Have you seen one of these on a Singapore car,bike,taxi,trucks and any vehicle on wheels?? In Singapore they call it a ERP Unit(Electronic Road Pricing). This unit will enable the users to drive by their versions of toll booths without taking up the space and saving on manpower collecting money from the users.

"Singaporean Version of a Toll Booth"

This is how their “toll booths” look like, vehicles using the areas simply need to place their Cash Cards into the units.When they drive by these “tol booths” the unit automatically deducts the cost off the card. You do not need to slow down or stop to pay for using the road. Traffic jams at toll booths will surely be a thing of the past, don’t you think so?

Ok now lets ponder about the hard question that the authorities have. How do you enforce it to ensure people don’t simply drive by without having any money to be deducted?! I spoke to my 13 year old brother who gave me this idea…

- Doesn’t our my cards(identification cards) have touch n go?

- Don’t you have to place your touch n go into your smart tag to actually use it?

- Isn’t your my card unique to a individual?

Do the math !

Now..think of the kind of savings that you can have if this system is implemented properly

1) Cost of maintaining the toll booths

2) Cost of the manpower hired to collect the money

3) The electricity cost consumer by the air conditioning for the each toll booths

4) The fuel cost when you get stuck at a jam when you reach the tol booth

5) The security guard/cctv monitoring the booths(if any) cost

6) No risk of human error as human enforcement is not required

These are just a few of the many which I’m sure the real experts can come up with. Come on guys! If your not as creative, there is absolutely nothing wrong in learning from those who know how its done!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Remove Crap From System Tray

This is a great tip that i found. I use Vista at home and i hate to see too many icons on my systems tray so this is how you get rid of it ->

It drives me crazy when applications install themselves into the system tray without giving me a choice during setup. QuickTime has no good reason to be in the system tray, but it’s there anyway after you install iTunes.

To remove it, all you have to do is right-click on the icon in the system tray, and choose “Quicktime Preferences” from the menu.

Click on the Advanced tab.

Near the bottom, uncheck the checkbox for “Install QuickTime icon in system tray”

If you are using Windows Vista, you will get this message when you close the dialog window.

Just click the “This control panel works correctly” button, and the icon should be gone forever.

Popularity: 10% [?]