CleVR...Penang Hill revisited

This is a revived post originally published in 2009. It used to be a post about a Flash object called Zoomify, but I have since lost use of a free hosting site, and had take this post down. Now there is a similar large image viewing site that host for you for free... called CleVR. The image below is a large, Photoshop CS3-stitched panoramic view from Penang Hill at night. It is the same picture as the blog header image (minus my signature on it).

Panorama of Night View of Penang from Penang Hill (26 Feb 2005) on CleVR.com

You can use the magnifying glass icon to enlarge or reduce the image magnification  Dragging your cursor on the picture moves it around towards the direction of the movement. To resume the auto-scrolling of the panorama, right click on the image and select Play from the context menu. Unfortunately, the viewing area is quite small and I cannot set the initial zoom level unlike in Zoomify.

This picture was taken in Feb 2005, during Chinese New Year. You can see Kek Lok Si temple all lit up together with the new Guan Yin statue. At that time, the construction of a pavilion to cover the Guan Yin statue had not yet begun, so the statue is in clear view. Shots were taken from the Top Station of Penang Hill and around 33 images were used to make up the panorama with Photoshop CS3.

You can insert 'hotspots' into the panoramic image, including links or description pertinent to the area. In this image, I had labeled a few buildings and general areas of the image. These 'hotspots' appear as a greyish box. If there is a description or link, clicking on the grey box will result in the display of the text, image or link. If there are no associated image, text or link, then the title of the 'hotspots' will appear on the bottom right-hand border of the object beside the word 'clevr' when you put the mouse over the 'hotspots' or if you click on it.

Think of all the wonderful uses possible for CleVR... I only hope no one decides to take a detailed image of his or her rear end and stich it up in CleVR. That would certainly be gross!!

NB: This post was re-posted on March 2013 without changes to the original posting date and time.

H1N1 fever.....maybe

With the increasing number of H1N1 cases in Malaysia, it appears that the virus is fast becoming a buzzword. Some call it the swine flu, others just H1N1. Of late, some even call it the hinny virus, though it has got nothing to do with that equine hybrid.

It looks like the flu is fast developing into a mania, a craze that has engulfed us, in the same scale as scandalous political dealings and state by-elections. What hasn't caught on it the awareness to keep it in check. Sad...but then again, we tend to only act when the situation is beyond control.

Penang Hill - Naik Separuh Jalan No. 2

This is a continuation of the entry: Naik Separuh Jalan

No. 9 - Exercise. For those too poor to afford fancy gyms and personal trainers, hiking up the hill is a good form of exercise. Hence we see a lot of gorillas, whales, walruses, elephants trodding and plodding up the hill, in hopes of becoming svelte and trim.