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Written by @Joehairie (Photos by curiostraveller.com team members)
Thought of the day-'Travelling, it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.'-Ibn Battuta.
Sunday, January 29, 2017.
The previous visit to Seremban was way back in 1996 when we did backpacking around Peninsular Malaysia. 21 years later, we had the opportunity to re-visit this medium size town. We were in Kuala Lumpur for some writing tasks and having completed all assignments we had nothing else to do. @Lan suggested that we take the opportunity to go to Seremban on day trip and so we did. This might be one good idea a.k.a itinerary for you if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur and have enough of seeing that big city. To readers who have never been to this town, welcome to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus.
Kuala Lumpur and Seremban is not that far, one short trip that covers about 60 kilometers. While there are plenty and faster options to get to Seremban from Kuala Lumpur, we both decided to hop on the KTM Komuter service as we love being on trains! We departed from KL Sentral early in the morning, forking out RM17.60 for 2 pax, one way. There were not so many people wanting to go to Seremban that day, perhaps due to Chinese New Year public holiday, people might be heading to another popular destinations. Anyway, we were glad it went that way as there's no need to rush inside the coach to get the limited seats (it will be, during peak hours).
For further reading about Negeri Sembilan in general, click HERE
The train ride from KL Sentral to Seremban was about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Several stops before reaching Seremban and along the way there's plenty things that one get to see. Pretty interesting ride we'd say. We were a bit nervous as it was more than 20 years ago since we've visited Seremban, not sure how things are after 2 decades.
It's fun to plan a visit without proper details, we did not emphasize on the details when we googled about Seremban. Jotted down few names, printed out a map (as below) and that's all. Whatever will be, will be, that's what in our mind. We decided to make one big round (anticlockwise) of Seremban town, following the main road(s) as we go along.
From Seremban Train Station (Using the map as guide), we walked along Jalan Dato Bandar Tunggal before turning right to Jalan Berhala, going straight up Jalan Yam Tuan. We went to the left direction going to Jalan Tunku Hassan and then proceeded to Terminal One Seremban using Jalan Tunku Munawar before heading back to the Train Station.
We came across this board, a name of the road near to Terminal One Seremban. Historically speaking, the original name of Seremban was Sungei Ujong or Sungai Ujong. Sungai means River in English, therefore Sungai Ujong is Ujong River. Founded in 1870's upon discovery of Tin, a dispute between Dato' Kelana and Dato' Shabandar (tax, ownership and control issues) resulted in the intervention of the British (being invited by Dato' Kelana). In return for the support, Dato' Kelana had to accept the presence of a British Residence, advising in regards to matters other than religion and Malay Customs. Now, Sungai Ujong is better known as Seremban.
First building that we saw upon exiting the Train Station, Seremban Parade. It is kind of one Shopping Mall to which we decided not to go into as we had enough with malls. We want to see something different than shopping malls, old shop houses attracts us more. Furthermore, we don't have that much time to scale each floor of a mall.
We walked straight until we saw one old building in red color that has the name of 'Kelab Rekreasi Cina' (Chinese Recreation Club). For some, this might just look like a normal building but since we admire any old buildings, we spent quite some time looking at it and take photos of course! We wanted to go inside and have a look what's about the red building but we abandoned the plan, not wanting to be chased away!
We took a short cut through Jalan Berhala until we saw one beautiful Mosque. It's the Masjid Negeri or State Mosque. The Mosque was built in 1966 and officiated in November 1967 by the state's Yang Di-Pertuan Besar at that time, Tuanku Jaafar Al-Haj Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman. Built by incorporating contemporary design, it infused some traditional Minangkabau elements. The curved concrete roof is held together by nine pillars, representing the original nine districts of Negeri Sembilan (Johol, Jelebu, Klang, Sungei Ujong, Naning, Rembau, Jelai, Segamat and Pasir Besar).
Next to the State Mosque, at Jalan Taman Bunga is Taman Tasik Seremban (Seremban Lake Garden) that we did not go venturing as we needed to proceed further up. It's a popular place among the locals for recreation purpose and is said to be one of the oldest natural lake in Malaysia. If you are to visit Seremban, do visit this place especially if you have plenty time, unlike us. While walking, we found some old parking meter here and there, not sure if it's still working but in our state (where coupons are king), this is considered rare therefore we took time appreciating it.
Along Jalan Yam Tuan, we came across the Seremban Municipal Council Recreational Field, nothing much to be seen here (as it's a field for playing football or something) but there's a big sign of 'Welcome to Seremban' on the other side (Jalan Dato Bandar Tunggal). A mandatory place for photos to prove that one have been to this Town.
There were some official (royal) banners here and there announcing the Birthday of His Majesty, Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, the current and eleventh Yang Di-Pertuan Besar/ Head of state of Negeri Sembilan. To know more about His Majesty, do click HERE. Happy Birthday Tuanku!
Since we crossed over to Jalan Dato' Bandar Tunggal, we decided to go straight before going back to Jalan Yam Tuan through Jalan Dato' Lee Fong Yee. @Lan did not want to miss any signboard of street names he saw, so pictures taken on his request! The town was not that busy when we visited, this was the 2nd day of Chinese New Year, most people were at home or at other places. It's great though, making things easier for us as there were not so many cars on the road.
Starting at Jalan Dato' Sheikh Ahmad to Jalan Dato' Lee Yee Fong, buildings became so interesting to see, at least for both of us. As mentioned earlier, we love the way people trying their very best to preserve old shop houses, turning em' into business or residence unit. Below are some pictures that we have for sharing, do excuse us for not pointing out the exact name of the road or the name of the buildings but all are generally scattered along Jalan Dato' Sheikh Ahmad and Jalan Dato' Lee Yee Fong.
As we walked along Jalan Yam Tuan, we came across one interesting restaurant, Hj Shariff Cendol. We did read about this restaurant in some reviews and since all reviews bragging about the deliciousness of the Cendol, we decided to make a pit stop and satisfy our curiosity a.k.a hunger/thirst. Cendol is a dessert.
Apart from Cendol (RM2 per bowl), we ordered Rojak (RM4 per serving). A full review of this restaurant and its product will be posted in this blog after this particular entry. Both Cendol and Rojak were all right. The rojak is kind of Pasembur, a favorite in Penang Island. To know more about Cendol in general, click HERE. Click this LINK to read more about Rojak/Pasembur.
Cendol (Left) and Rojak (Right)
After that satisfying brunch at Haji Shariff Cendol, we walked along Jalan Yam Tuan before turning left to Jalan Tunku Hassan. On our way, we met an elderly man pushing his cart with some Petai or Bitter Bean on it (Petai is scientifically known as Parkia Speciosa). Click HERE to learn more about Petai. He nodded at us indicating that it's okay to take his photos and so we did. It's quite interesting to see the product he's bringing with him, perhaps taking it to be sold somewhere else.
At one small bus station, three elderly people were there waiting for something, perhaps the bus or maybe just taking a break after walking from somewhere. We love to see the locals way of life. There's an old bicycle parked nearby, not sure though if that belongs to the old man with white beard. Sometimes we both will simply sit down with the locals having some good conversation or just looking at what they are doing.
We kept walking until we found one quiet road that turned out to be a short cut going to Jalan Tunku Hassan. Though not a pretty sight, we're still glad to see some old shop houses, again, here and there. When we reached another junction, Chinese New Year decorations were here and there.
Street Art @ Jalan Tunku Hassan
At Jalan Tunku Hassan, on one of the smaller roads, leading to the back of some old shop houses, we found some interesting street art, ranging from smaller to medium size. There are about 9 of them and maybe there are others at different locations (to which we are not aware of). It's interesting see street art paintings such as 'Girl Catching Butterflies, Jovial boy enjoying the Lion Dance and many more).
To see more images and read more about Street Art @ Jalan Tunku Hassan, click HERE
After viewing and admiring some of the Street Art @ Jalan Tunku Hassan, we came back to Jalan Dato' Bandar Tunggal and went right to Jalan Dato Lee Yee Fong before coming out at Jalan Tuanku Munawir. We know that the Central Market or Pasar Besar is somewhere nearby but realizing that it's closed for the Chinese New Year celebration, we decided to skip visiting it. How unfortunate but we will sure to come back and explore the market in the near future, local markets are colorful, we are aware of that, in fact we love looking at things in the market.
To read some articles by other writers about Pasar Besar Seremban, click HERE.
We continued walking and enjoying looking at the surrounding, the old buildings and some people, doing their routines. We love how easy it was for us to wander around with not so much traffic in comparison to the condition in big cities such as Kuala Lumpur.
Things might be a little busy during weekdays but we are pretty sure that it's not that hectic and things are much relax here. Again, while walking, we saw more old shop houses, similar to what we saw in Malacca and Penang. We do hope that the local government and locals will preserve such building. We love what we saw here and hope that things do not change drastically in the years to come.
Restore old buildings, turn it into something relevant for today's context and not replacing em' with too many high rise buildings. Too much development comes with a price, sooner or later and we hope Seremban ably to maintain some olden days elements, infusing it into modern days necessities.
We both are cat lovers and to found one playing by herself was indeed something 'beautiful'. We took time playing with the cat! We continued walking towards Jalan Sungai Ujong until we saw Terminal One Seremban on the left and Wesley Methodist Church on the right. There's another interesting old church (Church of The Visitation) near to Jalan Bomba but we did not have time to visit it.
Terminal One Seremban is not only a shopping Mall. It has one big bus terminal next to it where people can get buses to places in Seremban as well to other towns in the other states. Taxis are easy to get around here. Next to Terminal One Seremban is one monsoon drain where some people spend their time, fishing.
At the other end of Terminal One Seremban, another Street Art is being displayed and it's famously known as Medan Seni Ujang. Ujang is a local cartoonist and we are his fans! Seeing some bigger size characters in Ujang's cartoon is indeed exciting. The emergency staircase next to Medan Seni Ujang is painted in bright colors giving some 'life' to this place. Medan Seni Ujang is just next to the Bus Terminal.
To see more images and read about Medan Seni Ujang, click HERE
We did not opt for the bus to get back to Kuala Lumpur instead we walked back to Seremban Train Station which is just about 5-10 minutes walk from Terminal One Seremban. The reason was, all buses going to Kuala Lumpur that day scheduled to stop at Pudu Station whereas we wanted to alight at KL Sentral, where our hotel is just next to it.
The day trip to Seremban was indeed one exciting journey. We love what we've seen and experienced in Seremban. We're pretty much amazed with the Colors of Seremban, colors that represent the heritage as in old buildings, its people, art and culture. While some people might think Seremban is just an ordinary town, we prefer thinking the opposite. Seremban, for us, offers many interesting things. We did not have the opportunity to visit the Museum, Pasar Besar and other landmarks but we are sure to come back in the near future as we are planning to visit Post Dickson later this year.
While on the way to Port Dickson later, we are sure to drop by at Seremban again and indulge in more exciting activities. 21 years after 1996, we were able to be at Seremban again and we're definitely grateful to have that opportunity. This particular visit was a short one but we enjoyed every minute of it. We did not regret choosing Seremban over the other towns in Peninsular Malaysia. Thank you so much Seremban and we will be back soon!


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I asked for 1, but got 500!!
God's HumorGod's Surprises
Oct. 11, 2016
I asked for 1 but got 500!!
My friend, Debbie, had a birthday gift for me. She said she got it at a craft show from a young lady who had the words, 'Psalm23' on her chaulk board. Debbie asked her if she had anything for sale with Psalm23 on it. The lady said she used to, but because she had gotten some flack about it, she took it off.
Right then, my heart and my sword took a leap. You thinking, 'sword?' what are you talking about? Keep reading


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Have you been wondering what we actually do over here, day-to-day?
It's not all fun and games, folks, but then you know that if you've read our self-pitying posts about the end of our Vietnam leg. This is not one of those posts – enough of that unhappiness, right?
Though I'll admit that we don't really have a "typical" day, our life on the road is also much more "normal" than you might think. A shared set of biological needs and evolutionary history means that we eat, sleep, drink, etc., just like every other animal, and that those things are a big part of our day.
Sure, there's adventure and fun thrown into the mix too. A few days ago, for instance, we passed our time cruising the dirt paths of Don Khon, an island at the very southern tip of Laos, cooling off in waterfalls, and seeing the famous Irrawaddy dolphins. I also managed to go down in the mud and am now sporting a pretty nasty contusion on my left calf. It was a pretty amazing day, bruise and all.
That's what you think of when you envision yourself on great trip, right? Beautiful sights, fun activities, good stories. I doubt you imagine spending four out of seven days a week on a bus, motorcycle, train, or whatever your chosen mode of transport is. I certainly didn't.
Alas, that's the way it is, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse: a huge chunk of any long-term traveler's time is devoted to transit. Enough time to make it typical.
Here's what one of those days looks like for us:
- 6:30/7:00 a.m. – Wake up, check emails and social media in bed, and have instant coffee in our room, if available.
- 7:30 a.m. – Get ready, do some burpees for exercise, and pack our bags. If we can get a head start the night before, it's a fairly quick process. If not, it can easily take 20-30 minutes.
- 8:00 a.m. – Eat breakfast, which is usually included in our room rate. In Asia, t
his means soup, an egg bánh mì (sandwich), or an egg fried beyond all recognition with some bread and jam. Not inspired at all, but it gets the job done. Though we weren't big breakfast eaters at home (weekend brunch being the wonderful exception), it's now one of our most important meals. We don't usually eat during rides, as it's best to avoid potential tummy troubles on the road where facilities are … lacking, at best.
- 8:30 a.m. – Load up the bikes.
- 8:45 a.m. – Depart hotel, fill up our tanks, and hit the road. Our transit rides average around 140 km. If we're on a fairly flat, straight, well-maintained road, it takes us about three hours with rest breaks and stops to take photos along the way. Throw in some curves, major potholes, and a lot of elevation gain and/or loss, and that same distance can take us up to eight or nine hours.
- 9:00 a.m. – One or both of us feel first pangs of tummy troubles despite being careful with breakfast. Proceed to ignore/will the troubles away.
- 9:15 a.m. – Tummy troubles dissipate. Big sigh of relief.
- 9:30 a.m. – Tummy decides to amp up its threats to go nuclear.
- 9:32 a.m. – Threat level midnight. Leap off bike and immediately seek relief.
- 9:35 a.m. – Conclude horror show by noticing that the chosen bathroom spot was hidden from the road but not from some farmers working their fields, who are currently staring, mouths agape. Feel a mixture of embarrassment and indifference – as long as one feels better, who cares? We'll never see these people again.
- 11:00 a.m. – Take official first break. We try to break every one and half hours or so to stretch our legs, drink water, and relieve ourselves. Sometimes, we'll press on, either because we are feeling good or because conditions are so that we just want to get it over with (bad weather, for example). Sometimes we'll stop more frequently, on account of … well, you know by now.
- 1:00 p.m. – Arrive and check into hotel/guest house. We tend to book in advance if we are staying at a popular hotel or guest house to ensure we get a room. Otherwise, we pick a first and second choice and just show up. The benefit of this is obvious: if it ends up being dicey, we can leave. You can't do that if you've already paid.
- 1:30 p.m. – Drink celebratory post-ride beer, a Wanderrlust tradition. If we're hungry, we'll grab a snack, but usually we just wait it out until dinner.
- 2:00 p.m. – Now the fun really begins! And by fun, I mean chores (charge our helmet Bluetooth sets and phones, clean helmet face shields, unpack, do some laundry in the sink, and research and plan the next legs of the journey) and work (writing, photo editing, posting to social media, and updating our route map).
- 5:00 p.m. – Happy hour…duh! This is usually beer, but does that ever get old. If we can find a good cocktail, our budget goes out the window without a second thought.
- 6:30 p.m. – Venture out for dinner, though it could be as early as 6:00 p.m. in small villages, which tend to shut down no later than 8:00 p.m. I always do research beforehand on each location's food scene – I use a combination of TripAdvisor, Travelfish, and good old Google to search for blogs by fellow foodie travelers and/or locals (much more fruitful in bigger towns). As for what we eat, we go for whatever's good above all else. If that means pizza in Vietnam or Philly cheesesteaks in Vientiane, we're doing it (or more accurately, we did it!). This strategy has brought us much more gustatory satisfaction than dogged devotion to culinary authenticity.
- 7:30 p.m. – Back to the hotel, usually with wine in hand. In Vietnam, that meant a bottle of the local red, Vang Đà Lạt, for around $3 – the oenophile may find notes of cheap, but we found it drinkable for that price. In Laos, it's all imported and surprisingly less expensive to buy at your hotel or guest house than to buy a bottle in a store. Also surprising is how many guest houses carry it (e.g. our guesthouse on Don Khon cost us $12/night for a clean room with hot water, good window, and A/C and they had wine).
- 7:45 p.m. – Spend the rest of the evening reading or watching a movie. If we get lucky and meet some cool people at our guest house, we'll hang out and have a few drinks.
- 10:00 p.m. – At this point, we're done with wine, in bed, and either reading or hitting the hay. We're asleep no later than 11:00 p.m. and usually by 10:30.
Wash, rinse, repeat…with some great adventure days, thrown in as mentioned earlier.
I'm curious as to reactions on this. Are you surprised at how we spend our time? Delighted? Appalled? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section – unless of course you're appalled. In that case, you can kindly keep those thoughts to yourself.
Peace, love, and happiness –


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Does Pukka Aloe Vera contain Aloin?
To make Aloe Vera Juice and Wholistic Aloe Vera we only use the unfiltered gel of the inner leaf, which contains none of the bitter aloin found in the green outer rind. Aloin is only found in the outer leaf, which is not included in our Aloe Vera Juice.
The Aloe Vera Juice we produce is tested for aloin to ensure it meets the requirements in the EU of below 0.1mg/kg.
For more information on Aloe Vera please visit our Pukkapedia.


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here are some scriptures that i refer to in this podcast
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
1Peter 4:12-14 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (13) But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (14) If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Ephesians 6
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Pro 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Mar 4:14 The sower soweth the word.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.


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I am the undead, in vain you try to stop me.
In vain you've kill my flash
I hate you cause you hate me
I am the sum of your fears, unholy and always awake
I can smell your thoughts
I can hear your mind. I make no mistakes
Forbidden epitaph, whritten with upside down words!
Forbidden epitaph above an empty tomb
You're soulless and worthless
Nothing can stop you to die
Evil! Godless! Your own life makes you cry
Death and life are twins
So why do you love your life?
While worms will dig your corpse,
Your spirit will arise
I'll died but I'll come
As ghost to trouble your mind
Anger! Fury!
Against what I used to be
Above an empty tomb
The evil takes a look
I read the forbidden words
I call the unholy lords
I've carved the ancient curse on stone.


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Pre-service Computer Teachers' Tendencies towards the Use of Mobile Technologies: A Technology Acceptance Model Perspective
Ünal Çakıroğlu [firstname.lastname@example.com], Karadeniz Technical Universtiy, Seyfullah Gökoğlu [firstname.lastname@example.com], Kastamonu University, Mücahit Öztürk [email@example.com], Aksaray University, Turkey
Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this exploratory study examines the pre-service teachers' adoption of mobile technologies through the factors of current use, instructional use and future use in their teaching practices. Participants were 466 pre-service computer teachers enrolled at a public university in Turkey. A questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to collect data. Results indicated that the current use and instructional use factors had a strong positive correlation and also there was a similar correlation with the factor of future use and current use. Relationships between current, instructional, and future use of mobile technologies explained within the context of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and behavioural intention constructs of the TAM.
Abstract in Turkish
Teknoloji Kabul Modelini (TKM) temele alınarak gerçekleştirilen bu keşfedici araştırmada, öğretmen adaylarının mobil teknolojileri benimseme durumları mevcut kullanım, öğretimsel kullanım ve gelecekteki öğretim uygulamalarındaki kullanım durumları çerçevesinde incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın katılımcılarını Türkiye'deki bir üniversitede öğrenim gören 466 bilişim teknolojileri öğretmen adayı oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracı olarak araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen bir anket kullanılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları mevcut kullanım ve öğretimsel kullanım faktörleri arasında yüksek düzeyde olumlu bir ilişki olduğunu; benzer şekilde mevcut kullanım ile gelecekteki kullanım faktörleri arasında da benzer bir ilişki düzeyi olduğunu göstermektedir. Mobil teknolojilerin mevcut, öğretimsel ve gelecekteki kullanım durumları arasındaki ilişki TKM'nin algılanan fayda, kullanım kolaylığı ve davranışsal niyet gibi temel bileşenleri çerçevesinde açıklanmıştır.
Keywords: mobile technologies, pre-service computer teachers, technology acceptance model, future tendencies
In recent years, in an increasingly digital education the integration of mobile technologies in the classrooms continues to grow and is playing significant role in the technology integration applications (Sánchez-Prieto, Olmos-Migueláñez, & García-Peñalvo, 2014; Fulantelli, Taibi, & Arrigo, 2015). In this sense scholars point out that teachers should be experienced in using technology and also should know how to integrate technology in to the classrooms as well (Dexter, Doering, & Riedel, 2006; Goktas, Yildirim, & Yildirim, 2009). To this end, many efforts were provided to train in-service and pre-service teachers. Since pre-service teachers are considered more close to the novel technologies and in-service teachers have formed some habits about technology use, some researchers suggest to give more attention to pre-service technology integration trainings (Cacho, 2017; Baydas & Göktaş, 2016). As mobile learning becomes important, it is critical that pre-service teachers develop skills to use mobile technologies in their classrooms.
In this sense, the number of studies about both in-service and pre-service teachers' use of mobile technologies continues to grow (Joo, Lee, & Ham, 2014; Kim, Chun, & Lee, 2014; Kuo, Liu, & Ma, 2013; Yamakawa et al., 2013; Jaradat, 2013). Also, Kafyulilo, (2014) pointed out that teachers should play significant roles in the design process of mobile learning environments.
For instance, Kuşkonmaz (2011) noticed that the majority of the teachers found their mobile learning practices valuable for teaching profession. Uzunboylu and Ozdamli (2011) with a survey study found that teachers' perceptions towards mobile learning were generally positive. In another study, Hur et al. (2015) explained factors such as usefulness, ease of use and self-efficacy affecting pre-service teachers' intention to use mobile devices and found that perceived usefulness was the strongest predictor.
Within a general view Nistor (2014) suggested to provide some explorative studies in order to explain the intentions and actual use of new technologies. However, only a few studies focused on pre-service teachers' intention to use mobile devices in their future practices (Acarli & Sağlam, 2015; Valtonen et al., 2015; Teo, 2012; Camilleri & Montebello, 2011). Thus, it is still a question that, whether pre-service teachers know how to use mobile technologies can they easily integrate in the classroom or will they really tend to use them in their future practices (Lei, 2009; Sadaf, Newby, & Ertmer, 2012; Valtonen, 2011).
In Turkey, in recent years, a new reform project (Fatih Project) about the integration of new technologies into classrooms is planned for implementation throughout the country. Considering computer teachers as more experienced in using new technologies, the administration gave a responsibility to computer teachers to inform other teachers in adoption process. In fact, where all of the pre-service teachers delivered a compulsory ICT course in the first year, students generally develop skills about the use of computers such as Office programs; however, they cannot learn the ways of integrating ICT in their classrooms. Therefore, computer teachers' beliefs, perspectives and skills in using new technologies become crucial in the integration process. Also, understanding the relationships among the various factors of acceptance of new technologies may provide hints about the use of new technologies in the future. Since smartphones, tablets, PDAs or other mobile technologies are seen important part of the project, pre-service computer teachers' perspectives about using mobile technologies and their intentions to use them in educational context may provide valuable information about the success of the project. In this circumstance, understanding pre-service computer teachers' intentions of using mobile technologies in their future practices may provide ideas for program developers or instructional designers.
On the other hand, when dealing with the integration of a new technology into classrooms, "acceptance" comes to front as the prominent element of the stakeholders; teachers, students, administers or others. (Wang, Wiesemes, & Gibbons, 2012; Murray & Olcese, 2011; Chen, Looi, & Chen, 2009). In this context, various studies have investigated the intentions by adopting the acceptance models about as a framework. In this regard, we used Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework to explore the current and future use of mobile technologies among pre-service teachers.
Theoretical Framework
Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989) modelled the factors influence on users' decisions when they faced with a new computer technology. He addressed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were two main factors in this acceptance process. Attitudes toward use and behavioural intentions to use are and actual system use are the other factors in the process. Figure 1 briefly describes the acceptance process TAM model.
In the model; perceived usefulness is about the beliefs that a particular system would enhance his or her job performance. Perceived ease of use refers the amount of less provided by a particular system.
TAM has been widely used in technology integration studies as a guide for the applications or as a mean for exploring the integration process (Yuen & Ma, 2008; Holden & Rada, 2011; Ma, Andersson, & Streith, 2005; Teo, 2012). Specifically, in the context of mobile learning some studies also used TAM as a framework. For instance, Phuangthong and Malisawan (2005) reported that TAM was helpful to understand factors affecting mobile learning adoption with 3G technology. Jairak, Praneetpolgrang, and Mekhabunchakij (2009) addressed that the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology based upon TAM was able to explain university students' mobile learning acceptance. Menzi, Önal, and Çalışkan (2012) drawing TAM as a framework, examined the current use of mobile technologies and attitudes towards the use of these technologies for instructional purposes. In addition, Park, Nam, and Cha (2012) confirmed that the university students' behavioural intention to use mobile learning could be explained via the TAM. Darren Pullen et al. (2015) used the adopted version of TAM (unified theory of acceptance and use of technology) model to examine Malaysian pre-services teachers' use of mobile technology in education. The results showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, attitude toward technology and self efficiently were significant determinants of behavioural intentions to use mobile devices for learning. Sánchez-Prieto, Olmos-Migueláñez, and García-Peñalvo (2016) explored the behavioural intention in using mobile devices within the future teaching practice of pre-service primary education teachers through TAM. The results showed that the stronger relationships were those established between perceived usefulness and behavioural intention, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness.
In this study, in order to gain a better understanding of the pre-service computer teachers' acceptance of mobile technologies we used TAM as a framework. An attempt was made to show the relationships between pre-service computer teachers' current use of mobile technologies, use for instructional purposes and their tendencies in future teaching practices. In line with the purpose of the study, the following research questions were directed:
- How do pre-service computer teachers perceive mobile technologies in terms of their current use, instructional use and future teaching practices within the conceptualization of TAM?
- Do pre-service computer teachers' perceived use of mobile technologies in terms of current, instructional purpose and future teaching practice have statistical correlation among each other?
In this study, the pre-service teachers' perspectives were collected with five-point Likert type items (from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree (4)) questionnaire. TAM was used as a framework to construct an item pool was for the draft questionnaire. Then the items were developed and assigned to the sub-sections through five experts' opinions (two of them have expertise on scale development and the research area of three is about mobile learning). Considering the research problems, the sub-sections of the questionnaire were taken as Current Use, Instructional Use, and Future Use. Many items of the instrument used in this study were derived from previously validated which are shown in Table 1.
Since we used the Turkish version of the questionnaire, the overall reliability Cronbach α was .88 which can be considered as acceptable level (Creswell, 2005). The α values for Current Use, Instructional Use, and Future Use were.76, .79, .78 respectively.
The questionnaire was administered to the 466 pre-service teachers (3rd and 4th grades; 243 male (52.1%) and 223 female (47.9%)) enrolled in Computer & Instructional Technology (CEIT) department. The demographic data is briefly outlined in Table 2.
Results and Discussion
The responses to the items under current use, instructional use and current use factors were analysed descriptively and then the correlations among three factors were defined.
The participants' current use of mobile technologies is shown in Figure 1.
It is seen that, pre-service computer teachers have mostly use mobile phones (99.3%) and notebooks (92.9%) as mobile technologies. Tablet PCs (2.9%) have the frequency. Notebooks, netbooks, handbooks and others are used as mobile technologies among pre-service teachers.
The responses of pre-service teachers about current use of mobile technologies are shown in Table 3.
The responses revealed that pre-service computer teachers generally have positive perspectives towards using mobile technologies (M = 3.21). A considerable amount of them found it easy to learn to use mobile technologies (M = 3.59). Also they had positive perceptions that mobile technologies were accurate and understandable (M = 3.57). In their daily life mostly pre-service computer teachers enjoy using mobile technologies (M = 3.51). On the other hand, their perspectives indicate that the design features of mobile devices may cause limitations in using mobile technologies. Pre-service teachers also perceived that mobile technologies can facilitate their work. The pre-service teachers' responses given for the items related to the tendencies towards instructional use of mobile technologies were presented in Table 4.
In the instructional use of mobile technologies, the pre-service computer teachers' responses have the mean score of 2.96 at the I agree level. Their perspective about mobile technologies that they facilitate learning was generally positive (M = 3.25), and they think by the mobile technologies the instructional process may be more enjoyable (M = 3.20), and using mobile devices for instructional purposes is a good idea (3.15).
The pre-service teachers' responses about the future use of mobile technologies were presented in Table 5.
It is obvious that overall pre-service computer teachers have positive opinions about the future use of mobile devices for educational purposes (3.05). Most of them found the mobile devices will commonly be used in the future (3.61). In addition, they perceived that they will follow these technologies (3.37) and recommend to their colleagues to use mobile technologies in the future (3.37).
Overall, among three factors, only the instructional use factor was evaluated in I agree level (2.96), and other two factors, current use (3.21) and future use (3.05) of mobile technologies was evaluated as I strongly agree level. The scores show that the median scores of the students' perceptions towards the use of mobile technologies in their future practice are between 3 and 4 in all of the three factors.
Relations between current use, future use and instructional use of mobile technologies
The Pearson Correlation analysis was applied to determine the relations between the current use, instructional use and future use of mobile technologies. The correlation coefficient was calculated by using the average scores to the items of the three factors and shown in Table 6.
Positive correlations between three factors are seen in Table 6. The correlation between current use and instructional use (r = .42). Similarly, a moderate positive correlation is found between current use and future use (r = .42). Also, a strong positive correlation is found between instructional use and future use of mobile technologies (r = 0.69).
The responses about the factor current use of mobile technologies were outlined in Figure 2.
The responses about "current use of mobile technologies" were generally positive. Pre-service computer teachers addressed that mobile technologies can help them to achieve their work more easily (N = 406), and they perceived that mobile technologies enabled them to access information easily (N = 419). Similarly, some other researchers also reported that mobile technologies may support instructional process. Virvou and Alepis (2005) addressed that with their non-spatial use feature, mobile technologies can help to achieve their work and to enable users to access internet anywhere and at any time. In the instructional use factor, mobile technologies were considered to provide the opportunity for students to access information them wherever and whenever they want. Also, Attewell et al. (2010) argued that learners may use mobile technologies to provide using the time efficiently.
On the other hand, Frias-Martinez, Virseda, and Gomero (2012) addressed that students' high ownership rates of mobile technologies can facilitate formal education. Mobile technologies may support interaction, communication, and collaboration between student-student and teacher-student instantly; develop relationships; and support multimedia (Attewell et al., 2010; Behera, 2013). Thus, one of the main concerns about mobile technologies is their usefulness and the other is ease of use. In this study, the items of the questionnaires were taken into consideration in terms of the affordances and benefits of mobile technologies. It is seen that the items are generally in the framework of the acceptance. In this sense the participants' responses indicate the usefulness and ease of use in the context of current use, instructional use and future use. When studying these kinds of factors, explorations and elaborations are generally provided through technology adoption models. Kriek and Stols (2010) suggested the model as one of the useful theoretical frameworks to assess respondents' perspectives and their intention in technology assisted learning environments. Especially in the e-learning studies many examples of the use of TAM suggest to use it at all educational levels (Sánchez-Prieto, Olmos-Migueláñez, & García-Peñalvo, 2016).
In this circumstance, technology acceptance model (TAM) may provide a way to interpreting participants' preferences about the three factors of the questionnaire. In the model, perceived usefulness is described the enhanced performance which a user has been employed any the technology to perform specific tasks and problem solving (Keller, 2005). In this study pre-service teachers' perspectives about the current use of mobile technologies was considerably positive. In this sense, their positive views as manage their tasks easily (i.e. they may study independent from time and place), access information can be considered as the elements explained within the context of the perceived usefulness factor of the TAM.
In the context of the current use of mobile technologies; participants perceived that it was easy, clear, and understandable to learn and use mobile technologies. Some other studies also reported that users are concerned with some features of mobile technologies (Georgiev, Georgieva & Smrikarov, 2004; Wu & Wang, 2005). These features can be considered as the main factors related to the ease of use that the pre-service teachers expressed positive views about the related items. Similarly, Chih-Yung, Chih-Chiang, and Ming-Te (2011) suggested that mobile technologies should be produced with user-friendly features and in ideal design screen format for daily life. In this way people may accept mobile technologies easily. In this study, especially the items include the feature of ease were responded with positive perspectives. These items were generally referred to the ease of use factor of TAM. In this respect, the pre-service teachers' responses about the current use of mobile devices can be evaluated with regard to ease of use of mobile devices.
The distributions of the responses in the factor of instructional use of mobile technologies were presented in Figure 3.
The responses for the items in the factor of instructional purposes such as mobile technologies facilitate instruction, enable the efficient use of time in the teaching-learning process, enhance learning and teaching productivity were the factors may be assessed in the perceived usefulness of TAM. In this study participants perceived that the mobile technologies may facilitate teaching (N = 379) and they will enable to use the time efficiently in the teaching process (N = 335). Also, positive responses were given to the items such as the mobile technologies will increase students' learning performances (N = 318) and they will enhance pre-service teachers' professional productivity (N = 361). These items may be associated with the perceived usefulness. In this sense current perspectives and beliefs can be an indicator of an individual's eventual behaviour. Ma et al., (2005) asserted that attitudes and perspectives may reflect the tendency to react either positively or negatively and the thoughts are significant variable for determining the intention to use technology. In this study the pre-service teachers' perspectives about current use of mobile technologies indicate that current use may play a role in shaping their future intentions of use. In this regard, the responses indicate that using mobile technologies for instructional purposes is a good idea (N = 365) and students may feel enjoyed in the learning process (N = 373). Since these perspectives are related to the future considerations related responses were evaluated in terms of the intentions.
Pre-service teachers' intentions were revealed by their positive views regarding their plans to use mobile technologies in the teaching process in the future. Thus, participants' tendencies towards using mobile technologies in the future were generally positive at the level of I agree (3.05).
Overall, mobile technologies instructional use is somewhat related within the frame of the perceived usefulness and the attitude constructs of TAM. In this sense, Yildiz (2011) pointed out that the willingness to use, perceptions about enjoyable, beliefs about the mobile technologies, following the developments in the mobile technologies, and suggest colleagues to use may be considered in the intention factor of TAM. Within this point of view, the pre-service teachers' acceptance to use, follow, and use mobile technologies continually to take advantage of mobile technologies for their professional development can be determined in terms of the intention. Consequently, the overall relations among TAM factors were briefly presented in Figure 5. On the other hand, Ma et al. (2005) reported that perceived ease of use was not a significant predictor on the intention of adopting technology. Technology adoption intention was correlated with perceived usefulness (instructional use), that is, perceived ease of use (current use) indirectly affected to intention. In fact, in this study it was not surprising that pre-service teachers who hold positive beliefs in current use also have positive views in instructional use. Also, perceptions about future use were positively correlated with current and future use. Thus, it can be considered that the intentions and attitude which can be associated with the factor of future use is positively correlated with the perceived usefulness which can be associated with the factor of current use and also instructional use which is referred as easier to use of mobile technologies in classrooms. Similarly, Hur et al. (2015) found that the use of mobile technologies make the teaching practice more effective who believe that mobile devices to be easy to use.
Teo (2012) pointed out that the subordinate elements which are evaluated positively in ease of use, perceived usefulness and intention match up a great deal with the characteristics which elaborate the studies of TAM constructs. So we tried to match links between TAM constructs and the items of the questionnaire including current, instructional and future uses. Taking the perspectives as a reference, some items of the current use factor were associated with perceived ease of use and some others were associated with perceived usefulness. While all of the items about the factor of instructional use were related with perceived usefulness, the items of future use were linked to the attitude and intention construct of the TAM. The links between pre-service teachers' perspectives and the TAM constructs is shown in Figure 5.
According to TAM, people form attitudes and intentions toward trying to learn to use the new technology prior to initiating efforts directed at using (Bagozzi, Davis, & Warshaw, 1992). Lee, Cheung, and Chen (2005) in their study found that university students' perceived usefulness had an impact on both students' attitude toward and intention to use towards e-learning. Also (Saadé, Nebebe, & Tan, 2007) pointed out that behavioural intention and attitude towards e-learning were effected from perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. To this end perceived usefulness and the ease of use may be considered as an indicator for the intention (Mun & Hwang, 2003). The results of the study show that pre-service computer teachers' perspectives about the mobile technologies as usefulness (M = 3.19) and ease of use (M = 3.18), and their intentions to use in the future (M = 3.28). Based on the results their tendencies to use mobile technologies in the future may be explained by attitudes and intention constructs of the TAM. In this regard, the correlations between instructional use of mobile technologies reflecting the perceived usefulness and future use had found significant and positive. In another study Darren Pullen et al. (2015) also concluded that pre-service teachers' perceived ease of use of technology was significantly predictive of the intention of use.
This study has also some limitation regarding the self-designed questionnaire items for variables about the mobile technologies use intention, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Since the reliability of the sub-sections of the questionnaire is acceptable, the results may need a further confirmation on its generalizability.
Conclusion and recommendations
This study addressed potential links between the teachers' current use of mobile technologies and intentions to use the mobile technologies in their future practices. The results were important because participants were pre-service computer teachers actually without the opportunities incorporate mobile technologies in their real practices, but in their profession they should work within those technologies. Pre-service computer teachers' perspectives about current use, instructional use and future use of the mobile technologies were generally positive. The positive results about current position reflect some clues about shaping the future positively in terms of tendencies. Hence, high correlations between current use and instructional use; current use and future use indicate that current experiences about mobile technologies are so important for future teaching practices in terms of mobile learning applications.
In this study TAM is used in order to discuss perspectives of the pre-service teachers in order to explore the current and future position. While TAM is generally used to assess individuals' current views or behaviours about accepting or adapting to the new technologies (Edmunds, Thorpe, & Conole, 2012; Escobar-Rodriguez & Monge-Lozano, 2012), a conclusion may be derived from this study that TAM may also be useful to explain the tendencies in the future use of technology for different purposes (i.e. for instructional purposes).
When the pre-service computer teachers' perspectives about current use of mobile technologies are taken into consideration, it is inevitable that teachers should include mobile technologies in terms of technology integration in the classrooms. In this case, it will be useful to present some examples of applications about integrating mobile technologies to the classrooms in teacher training. Also, computer teachers as leaders of using innovations in the schools should be informed about the adoption processes in order to helps their future colleagues in the schools.
In this study the technology aspect of mobile technologies is generally related to the ease of use, and the mobile aspect is related to usefulness. So, further investigation can be conducted to determine the perceived ease of use of technology and usefulness of mobility on the intentions of future uses. Thus pre-service teachers' views about the design features of the mobile devices may be paid attention by technology designers. Future studies may focus on investigating possible emerging barriers that may discourage pre-service computer teachers in the future. Also in-service teachers' mobile technology adoption perspectives may be investigated in order to test the pre-service teachers' current views. This study with the insight for using mobile technologies in the future is hoped to contribute to the efforts on adoption processes of mobile technologies in to the classrooms.
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The one Hansie left out
Vinnige Fanie de Villiers looks back on the Hansie years, lessons learnt from West Indian quickie Sylvester Clarke, throwing javelins, successfully adapting, with his father's help, to a little town called Todmorden on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire —and that match-winning performance in the second Test in Sydney in 1994.
You recently appeared on Carte Blanche and made it clear that you were against the movie, 'Hansie' made by Hansie's brother Frans Cronje. Why?
I was upset and uncomfortable about the film because it wasn't wanted by his friends, ex-cricketers or family. Of that I'm pretty sure. I bet you the parents didn't want to be part of this at all. There's a lot of unnecessary unhappy emotion that is being recreated. Frans Cronje will probably make a lot of money to the detriment of a lot of people's emotions.
Once the scandal all came out, did you ever get to sit down and discuss it with Hansie?
He obviously never phoned any of his senior players. If he had, I would have confronted him. He just kept a low profile – in fact he disappeared. That's probably why we feel sorry for him. He started using those cargo flights and it wasn't to save money that he used them. I am sure it was so he didn't have to walk on a plane and have everyone looking at him. You won't believe the stares I had to put up with around that time. I'm sure people used to look at me and wonder, 'Was he part of it? Is Hansie taking the knock for him too?' I have had hundreds of people say to me that because of us, they no longer watch cricket anymore. That's huge.
How did you feel when after one of your great performances, it was revealed there had been match fixing?
Yes – it was a one day game at the Wanderers against Pakistan, where we had the Pakistanis at 11 for 3. I had three wickets in the first two overs. I thought I had a great game and that my bowling was coming together (smiles). I really enjoyed it, because I thought I was very good (laughs). But they had huge money on that game. Salim Malik admitted there was match fixing. It's difficult because while I was playing I simply gave my utmost – to find they weren't trying, confused it all.
If you could ask Hansie one question – what would it be?
'Why didn't you pull me in? What made you decide not to ask me?' At that time I was a pivotal player. In that era I was one of the top three bowlers in the world – there could have been serious spread-bets on me to go for forty/ fifty runs in nine overs. Was it because of my background, or did he think I might have taken it further? Did he think I would confront him and it would then be known what was going on?
What sort of captain was he?
A captain's strength is the senior players around him. Hansie had 8 senior players that had 70 odd years of cricket experience at a professional level. Seven of the eight were captains of their provinces. Imagine all the help Hansie had? His decisions were always based on everybody's input. But he was a great public speaker and had the skills to mobilise the public out there to love cricket and himself; his communication skills, which were helped by his looks, made the link between the public and the game of cricket, massive. But a real test of his captaincy would have been, to see how effective he was without those senior players. If I had a choice of making him captain again – would I choose him? I would.
Like fast bowlers Geoff Thompson (Aus) and Mathew Hoggard (Eng) you were a top javelin thrower before you turned to cricket, how did that help your bowling?
Well I come from a family of Javelin throwers – my mom Hanna and her brother were Free State champions, my sister was a Free State champion and we all represented SA Schools. As a javelin thrower you throw and create whiplash which helps when throwing a ball. Any fast bowler could be a good javelin thrower and I suppose the other way around.
You have always been the 'darling' of the press. But right at the end of your career there was some controversy – talk me through that.
In all my years in cricket I had one bad media report. Colin Bryden used my retirement day to write it. His headline read, 'Fanie retires in turmoil of racist remarks'. What it should have said was, 'Fanie retires in turmoil of racist remarks MADE TO THE PLAYERS'. It wasn't me it was some Indian guys shouting at Jacques Kallis who had refused to sign an autograph for a child. But in that one day game, Jacques wasn't allowed to sign autographs where he was fielding and supposed to be concentrating, so he wasn't been rude or difficult. When I got involved to try and find the guy who abused Jacques, suddenly I was the racist.
Tell me about your first stay in the UK.
I went to play cricket on the border of Yorkshire and Lancashire in a little town called Todmorden. It was grey, there were no leaves on the trees, it was miserable, and it was cold. All the walls of those little stacked townhouses were blackened and dirty, and they are small. If you go into the sitting rooms the dogs are inside on the couches and there is animal hair everywhere. You can see the lines through the houses where people have walked and worn down the stairs and so on. I became depressed and started missing my family and I began to hate my surroundings. So I phoned my dad and after a sombre few moments said 'Ek sukkel.' (I'm struggling.) He said, 'Wag, ek kom.' (Wait – I'm coming).
By all accounts he convinced you to stay; how did he do that?
When he got there he said, 'Let's go to the library'. We then proceeded to find out everything about the town. We found out who the Godfather or founder of the town was – we went to see his statue in a beautiful park. Then we investigated why the walls were dirty – which was because there was no electricity and they had to use coal. We went to the coal mines in the area and he pointed out all the little traditions that we didn't have at home. Even the hair on the furniture (laughs) had an explanation; the dogs used to live inside because of the weather and to provide companionship. But we found everyone still walked their dogs and cared for them. Because of my dad's little exercise, the respect I developed for those people was astonishing. I came to completely love the place. He often used to say, 'Hel die Engelse is darem slim…' (Hell the English are clever…). Interestingly that came from a man who was a, 'died in the wool' Afrikaner, who hated the English (laughs).
Very clever on your dad's part…
… Actually to thank Dad, I took him on a trip to India. I was picked for a World XI that played seven or eight games against India and I took Dad with. It was an absolute nightmare (laughs), for two weeks he signed autographs non-stop. But it was great he was in the planes, in the dressing rooms with us and he had firsthand experience of touring.
There was that incredible 2nd test in 1994 in Sydney Australia which you virtually won on your own. Australia needed 117 to win and you took 6 wickets for 43runs; tell me about that.
I was lucky there because the season and a half before, I had played in Kent. When I arrived there, I thought I'm going to show these Poms how to bowl (smiles). But the previous season had been very wet and they had reduced the seam and made the thread thinner; so I couldn't swing a ball. The guys were declaring for 800 and 900 (laughs). Because I couldn't get the ball to swing I taught myself to bowl an off-cutter and in Sydney I got my off-cutter going which helped me tremendously. On paper they needed 117 to win; but we reckoned that because of the deterioration of the wicket, and they therefore would have to score their runs in singles, it was more like about 200. So we knew our position was much better than a normal person would think. Even the 40 odd runs they needed the last day we knew were more like a good 100. But it was a hugely emotional win. And those are the ones you remember – the emotional ones.
Apparently the Indian's used to sometimes throw things at fielders, but didn't that also happen in Australia?
At Melbourne when we walked out of the dressing room they threw small stuff to intimidate us. Well someone through a piece of chicken at Pat Symcox, which he caught, took a bite out of it and then threw back at them (laughs) and chirped them, 'Bloody convicts…'
Against England at The Oval in 1994, you hit English fast bowler Devon Malcolm on the head. I thought there was an unwritten rule that bowlers didn't' bounce each other?
I remember that. I hit his helmet and his England badge fell off. But no, he had peppered our guys. He wasn't a great bowler although he took nine wickets that game (laughs). It was quite funny the boys said to me, 'Pin him' as he had chirped us. But the moment I hit him on the head they were all mad at me (laughs), because as he stood up he said to the guys nearby, 'You guys are history!' And by then the wicket had degenerated. That business of bowlers not going for each other was brought to us by Sylvester Clarke because he could hurt you. He used to say, 'I'm going to bounce you on the 4th ball so duck before I even bowl' (laughs). But in test cricket you try and hurt a bowler so he can't bowl in the second innings (smiles).
Talk me through the tandem parachute jump you and John Robbie did into the Wanderers. Who was more scared you or John?
No John was scared – the poor oke actually steamed up! (Laughs) He was terrified. He had these goggles on and they steamed up as we got higher, and he was talking on his walkie-talkie thing, and he was saying, 'We are flying so high I can't see through my glasses…' (laughs). But I have bungee jumped so I didn't find it too bad.
Your daughter was born deaf and you have been heavily involved in related charities, has her hearing improved?
I upgraded her hearing-aid the other day. It cost me R60,000 which I had to fork out myself just to upgrade. But after I got the new hearing aid she came to me and said for the first time she can pinpoint where a bird is when she hears it in a tree. Before she had to turn her head 360 degrees to find it – now she can 'hear' where it is.
You have cycled from Cape Town to Pretoria and sat up on the floodlights at Centurion park for charity, do those 'antics' raise worthwhile amounts of money?
(Smiles) Sitting on the flood lights raised about R189,000 and the cycling about R800,000 but that is only the start. The real value in all those things I do for charity is the awareness that is created and that is worth millions. For example, through us Jeremy Mansfield realised what cochlea implants are and he, through his radio program, has now raised huge sums of money – also millions. So the HEAR Foundation is going strong.
If cricket didn't exist and apart from 'spiesgooi,' (throwing the javelin), what sport would you have excelled at?
If I put on some muscle – rugby.


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In the moderator tools, we have an option to view the flag history of a post. In this flag history, we can also see deletions and undeletions. While you'll also see this on the post if you click on the link for the revisions, the link isn't visible unless there's an actual edit on the post.
Today, there was a flag raised by Community for "possible vandalism, posts deleted in short period of time". I looked at the posts, and there was one with an edit history on it that had been deleted and then undeleted. However, the four other posts didn't have any edit history (and therefore, no link to the revision history), but they were deleted and undeleted.
In order to get the flag history, I had to hack the URL for each post. I shouldn't have to do this, I should be able to view that information (call it something else if you want, it doesn't have to be "flag history", I'm not picky about the name right now, just getting to what it shows) regardless of whether or not a flag had actually been cast on it.


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It is important to know that while the principles, values and ideals of Scouting remain constant, each troop is unique in terms of style and management.
This handbook is not a replacement for the official Boy Scout Handbook. All national policies are not covered here. The information in this handbook is meant to supplement the Boy Scout Handbook and to provide specific information about our troop. Every new Scout who joins Troop 268 will get a copy of this Troop 268 Scout and Family Handbook.
Each Scouting Family in our troop is expected to understand the contents of the Troop 268 Scout and Family Handbook.


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By Justin Mock, Wellness Coordinator, Adventist Health
After a long, rainy winter, we are all ready for some sunshine and outdoor activity. And one of the best places to do that is the beach. But before you dive into those icy blue depths, be sure to run through this safety checklist from Eric Swanson, Executive Director of Strategy and Business Development at Tillamook Regional Medical Center.
With 33 years of experience in emergency medical services and 28 years of experience in law enforcement, Eric has seen many summers on our Tillamook County beaches and knows what you need to watch out for and how to keep yourself safe.
Here are Eric's six tips for a fun and safe time at the beach!
1. Don't turn your back on the ocean
During a fun day at the beach, it can be easy to lose track of your surroundings. However, always be sure to keep an eye on the ocean to watch out for sneaker waves. A sneaker wave is a larger wave that occurs amid smaller waves, seeming to come out of nowhere. These waves can be dangerous and have the power to sweep you into the ocean.
2. Look out for logs
While driftwood may float and bob in the surf as if it weighs nothing at all, those logs can be massive and carry enough weight to cause serious injury or death. Stay away from logs in the surf or even on wet sand. It only takes a few inches of water to move or roll a several-ton log.
3. Keep the cold in mind
Even on a sunny day, the average Oregon Coast ocean temperature is 55°F or colder. In a matter of minutes, hypothermia can set in, causing even the strongest swimmer to drown. So if you plan to get in the water, play it safe and wear a wetsuit.
4. Save spelunking for another time
While Oregon's beaches often have beautiful sand dunes, refrain from digging caves on the beach or dunes. Cave-ins can be very dangerous.
5. Careful on the cliffs
Oregon's beaches have some of the most beautiful cliffs and shoreline along the west coast. Just remember, cliffs and shoreline are constantly shifting and moving, so always obey signs and keep a watchful eye.
6. Know how to ride out a rip current
Stronger than even the best swimmer, rip currents are dangerous currents of water that rush out to sea. If you become caught in a rip current, stay calm and swim parallel to the beach instead of swimming directly back towards it.
With these six tips in mind, you, your friends and family can have a safe time at the beach. Remember, a safe day is a fun day.


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Despite being one of the most bug-riddled games we've ever had the joy of playing, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim still managed to dominate the charts and appear in many a top ten spot for the best games of 2011. It speaks volumes about Bethesda that even with its flaws Skyrim is one of the greatest role playing games to ever grace the Xbox. With absolutely spectacular visuals, a vast open world experience, more quests than ever before and a potential of more than 300 hours of playtime, we could overlook the problems and dive headfirst into the realm of Tamriel.
With more than 7 million units of Skyrim shipped to retailers within the first week of the game's release, it's unsurprising that rumors are already circulating about the sequel. Rumors helped along by news of Bethesda Game Studies "looking for experience programmers to work on cutting-edge technology for an unannounced game on future-generation consoles."
Not only does it look likely that we'll be treated to future trips to Tamriel on the Xbox, but also that Bethesda are looking past the Xbox 360 and straight to the next-generation Xbox One. Don't get excited if this makes you think the launch of the One is just around the corner though; The Elder Scrolls games notably take a long time to develop, with Morrowind in 2002, Oblivion in 2006 and Skyrim in 2011. At that rate we shouldn't expect to see the sixth installment until 2015.
Given that a future edition of The Elder Scrolls is a foregone conclusion, we thought we'd take a look at some of the features that we'd love to see within future installments in the series.
If you spend any time following gaming news you are likely to have heard of the announcement of The Elder Scrolls Online. For the first time Tamriel will be taken to the realm of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. It's great news for PC owners, but for those console-bound we'll need to wait for the next installment when it arrives on the Xbox One. Although we don't expect the same massive multiplayer experience that The Elder Scrolls Online promises to offer, it might be nice to find some form of co-operative mode incorporated into the console version.
We're not exactly sure how this would work in a game that, to date has been all about the single player campaign. Taking to the console with a friend to do battle with dragons and restore peace and stability to the realm could be a big enhancement however, and with the extra processing power that the Xbox One will offer we wonder if this is an addition that could help to push The Elder Scrolls to the next level.
Bug-Free Gaming
Bugs and The Elder Scrolls are words that go hand in hand. You only need to look at the enormous list of problems on the Skyrim Wiki to discover that bugs have been a serious problem for the game. The PC, PlayStation and Xbox versions of the game all suffered with an array of occasionally irritating errors, some of which were certainly linked to the game's engine. We sincerely hope that Bethesda put in some serious testing time to prepare the next Elder Scrolls game for its launch. Although patches have been released in an attempt to remove some of the errors, it seems a never ending battle for the developer. Perhaps it's time to put the old engine to rest and start again with a new system that hopefully poses fewer problems to players.
Up until now each Elder Scrolls game has been contained to a particular region of the map of Tamriel. It has already been revealed that the MMO release will tackle the whole of the world that we've seen so far, but what about the next console release? It may be that Bethesda chooses to develop one region in more detail instead of opening up the entire world; however it would be a great experience to know that you could travel for days in game and still not reach the edge of the map. It's a risky move however; make the game too good and too long and we could see civilization crumble as gamers around the globe disappear for months at a time in an attempt to reach the game's conclusion!
No matter what Bethesda has in store for us in the future, we're confident that The Elder Scrolls will be back, gracing our Xbox One's with spectacular scenery, storyline and adventure.
Article by - Rebecca Waterman
Insert Date: 05/31/2012
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Admins grade Trustworthy Computing's first year
Trustworthy Computing is one year old, and Windows admins, overall, are pleased that Microsoft showed some initiative.
Even though the increased volume of patches means more work for the average Windows administrator, many admins said they believe Microsoft's initial efforts toward building more secure software are a success.
It's been one year since Bill Gates issued a memo to Microsoft employees that signaled a shift in the company's emphasis -- a shift from building fancy features to fortifying its software. In the early months since Microsoft launched its Trustworthy Computing initiative, customers reacted with skepticism because Microsoft had such a big job to tackle.
But some customers have slowly warmed to the idea that Microsoft is really working hard to plug the holes in its software, even if it makes a Windows admin's job harder in the short term. "They are moving forward, which is good, but we are trying to keep up with how quickly they are moving," said Jim Acevedo, a network manager at IdaCorp Energy, Boise, Idaho.
Acevedo and other customers are grappling with the sheer number of patches that have poured out of Microsoft during the past year as Windows developers cleaned up the software's code. Keeping up has been tough, but for many it's better than leaving the systems vulnerable, particularly where servers are directly exposed to the Internet.
"We've stayed on top of our updates," said Paul Edwards, a Windows administrator at Cendant Corp., a global financial services, real estate and hospitality company. "It's more of a challenge, but we haven't been hit."
For some customers, the difficulty in dealing with the multiple patches is compounded by the fact that they have not yet migrated to Windows 2000. Many of the products that help distribute patches -- from Microsoft and other vendors -- are only really useful on Windows 2000 and beyond. Abbott Laboratories in Chicago has held off on its migration because of the cost, but it should be fully upgraded to Windows 2000 by June, said Corey Hopple, a network administrator.
"Getting the security patches is one thing, staying on top of them is another," Hopple said. "We've got hundreds of clients out there. [Microsoft] has [Software Update Services], but unless you are using Windows 2000, you need to do registry hacks to each server. The move to Active Directory alone will help us apply security patches."
One security analyst said that the biggest accomplishment of Gates' memo was to change the emphasis of Microsoft's product management culture from one where security becomes more important than whiz-bang features.
It's no small feat since the company once gave the highest rewards to product managers, said John Pescatore, an analyst at Gartner, Stamford, Conn. No one was rewarded for writing the most secure code.
But the fact that .NET Server 2003 was pushed back, and features will be locked down out of the box, is a big change for the company, where software is touted for its ease of use. In the future, it will harder to get a Web server running.
When Microsoft made the switch last year, it also stopped its developers from writing code to start looking to add security fixes -- another unusual move. "It's as if you are putting the trim on your house, and you suddenly tell everyone to stop what they are doing and start working on the foundation," Pescatore said.
Of course, any proof of success must wait until the newest versions of Microsoft software ship this year. The next version of Windows, .NET Server 2003 (or Windows Server 2003 as it may be called) and the next version of SQL Server, code-named Yukon, will incorporate efforts from the Trustworthy Computing initiative. Though most customers are a long way from installing those major platforms, they will be the proving grounds where admins most clearly will be able to evaluate the initiative's success.
For the many long suffering IT managers, Microsoft's effort is most welcome, though long overdue. "They should have given us better software in the first place," Acevedo said. "[Microsoft] has given us way too many neat looking things rather than secure and functional [products]."
Interview: Security guru looks back at Trustworthy Computing
Article: IT pros skeptical of Microsoft's security claims
Article: New Microsoft service to help ease patch pains
Best Web Links on patches


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Spiritual direction is about drawing closer to God.
As young adults, we often lead hectic, busy lives — sometimes it can be difficult to notice the movement of the Spirit in our day-to-day life. In spiritual direction, we are invited to slow down and reflect more deeply on our experiences — to recognize the grace and presence of God in our lives.
In fact, spiritual direction is not really about being "directed," in the sense of being "told what to do" — instead, a spiritual director is a listening, attentive companion on your spiritual journey... someone to encourage you towards a deeper relationship with the divine.
Some reasons you might come to spiritual direction include:
God seeks you where you are. Spiritual direction can come through all faiths, and it can occur in group sessions or one-on-one. Generally speaking, it often occurs as an hour-long one-on-one meeting, once per month.
Together with your spiritual director, you will agree on a convenient time and location to meet. Many spiritual directors will request a nominal fee for their time, while others may accept free-will donations or even volunteer their time.
It is very important to feel comfortable, and to know that what is shared with your spiritual director will be held in confidence. You may wish to interview more than one director, paying attention to your comfort level. Don't be afraid to ask about their theological and spiritual education, or whether they abide by particular ethical guidelines. After a few sessions, you should evaluate the relationship together, to be sure that both feel it will be beneficial — whether it is for a short time, or many years. If you don't find that the spiritual director is a good fit for you, you can always seek another.
Faith Connections would be pleased to help you in your search for a spiritual director. Please contact us.
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This Episode blew my socks off. I have to say that I'm surprised that Cheryl Yang could be so good at playing Wu Zhang Mei. This episode was good at showing that An De Feng, beneath his scheming exterior and his grand master plan to hurt Wu Zhang Mei, lies a hurt little boy who really just wants to fall back into love with the sassy, brave girl he once adored. His glances, his jealousy, and his unwillingness to leave her side are all pretty good indications that he's falling hard for the girl and there's no going back. Also he got a hickie from an old lady for her. If that does not say love, nothing will.
Category Archives: Big Red Riding Hood
Big Red Riding Hood, 大紅帽與小野狼 (Dao Hong Mao Yu Xiao Ye Lang) Episode 1 Recap
This drama is a rare gem that outshines the mundane dramas airing in Taiwan right now. I'm a hard sell on asian dramas, being that I've watched too many to count, my favorites being My Girl, Coffee Prince, Hana Yori Dango, Fated to Love You, Kimi Ni Todoke, and of course BBJX (that one put me in a depression for days). Finding a good drama that can make you want to watch what happens next out of eagerness instead of morbid curiosity is so rare today that I didn't think it would happen. Usually after the first episode, I know if I would watch it, watch it on fast foward, read it online, or stick it where the sun don't shine. To my great dismay, I've found the next drama that I can not only sit through, but relish. I didn't expect it. Especially because the name is not that interesting. But as all wise drama addicts know, you can't judge a drama by its name. Or its actors. This drama is the perfect companion piece to Agent X, the Tang Yang drama that I'm also recapping. Agent X is a serious drama about a kick ass spy who happens to be a woman in the 1920s, saving her country, one arms deal at a time. But Big Red Riding hood is funny, angsty, it tugs at the heartstrings and leaves you wanting more. Watching this drama is like taking a bite of your favorite cake after sipping a nice hot cup of bitter, sex coffee that is Agent X. ITs the Comedic Yin to the Serious, Dramatic Yin of agent X.