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This is far cry from MPH's warehouse sales, where shoppers have to lug/ kick carton boxes around like slaves and squat down to browse books, which are unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Alas, the MPH warehouse sales appear to have a wider book selection, although today's selection was nothing to sniff at.
I am most pleased with my buys, which include:
a) Maxine Hong Kingston's The Fifth Book of Peace, Hardcover. $8 (est USD$4.50). Slightly mutilated flap... but it's okay. I'll just remove it since it's hardback.
b) Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex,
Whoo hoo! I'm one happy geek!
Until I look at my bookshelf and realize that the new books have to go into my wardrobe because I've run out of shelf space long ago. And the fact that I now have over 30 novels unread, accumulated over 4 warehouse sales. And that I have over 300 novels in my room, not counting textbooks, and can probably finance my trip to Europe immediately if they were converted into cash.
Oh well.
Today:
Yahoo email account. Almost 1 gb left.
By "slapping", they actually mean punching, kicking, shoving, accosting, insulting and abusing. Free souvenir video probably included, since the exploits are captured digitally. Oh and there's nothing "happy" about it. The last two victims looked downright disgruntled and pissed to me.
I wonder what'll happen if this happened in Singapore JCs? Taupok-ing totally pales in comparison to Happy Slapping. It's not even in the same league.
Why is it that teenagers have this urge to physically abuse each other? Taupok-ing might have came about due to camaraderie but Happy Slapping, in my opinion, steps over that thin line between a prank and a crime. If indiscriminately assaulting even innocent people on the streets isn't criminal, then I don't know what else is.
By the way, notice how the last few comments on the original blog entry has slanted towards racist (national origin) slurs?
update: MSNBC has a report on this, with similar footage shown in Rant - Click.
LAUNCHcast is a personal radio station by Yahoo! and it broadcasts songs based on my stated preferences. As I've just set it up, expect wild deviations from my usual preferences which include Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Josh Groban, Norah Jones, Maroon 5, Richard Marx, Trisha Yearwood, Vanessa Carlton, Tori Amos, Lara Fabian and Tim McGraw. It even comes with commercials! All that's lacking is my smoky and husky voice...
Stop laughing.
LAUNCHcast's a pretty cool service, but I'm still trying to find out what the 600 tracks/ month limitation means. I hope others listening in on my station won't count towards my quota, because that would seriously suck. Of course, I'm labouring under the assumption that people are interested enough to click on that link at all. [update: sort of figured it out... listening to my radio station counts towards your own quota and not mine]
Expatatlarge (I cannot believe Blogger doesn't allow '@' within the tags! Replace 'at' with '@') has a pretty cool radio.blog (link here). But the copyright issues are somewhat dodgy (Radio.blog doesn't really protect the song file from getting downloaded... dangerous), plus cheapskate ol' me is not paying for PHP hosting until I have a regular paycheck. So LAUNCHcast it is.
Dear readers, Before you read on, know that this long story is an ongoing one, and the jury is still out on what its moral is, if it has one at all.
---
A long long time ago, in an age of farming and agriculture, there lived a farmer called Farmer Jones. Farmer Jones had a small farm, and his farm was surrounded by other huge farms. However, Farmer Jones' farm was better than neighbouring farms. It was more modern, had more cows, high quality hay and farmhands. More importantly, Farmer Jones had a Golden Cow. This Golden Cow could produce the milkiest milk among all the other farms. Farmer Jones was very proud of this Golden Cow, and relied on it to make sure that his farm was ahead of the neighbouring farms.
Now, although the other farmers were jealous, they didn't just sit there and watch the world go by. The other farmers bought in a new type of milking machine, called CSN2000, into their own farms. CSN2000 could milk their cows very hard and very fast, and even bestowed new teats on their cows, hence producing more milk. Using CSN2000, these farmers aimed to lure faraway farmers and farmhands to milk their cows for them, while the farmers kept the milk! (Why would anyone touch the disgusting teats and give up the milk? Because the new teats were so unique that the faraway farmhands couldn't resist squeezing them, even if it meant they didn't get to keep the milk.) The other farmers believed CSN2000 would give them a competitive advantage over Farmer Jones in the long run.
Farmer Jones scoffed at CSN2000. CSN2000, he said, had side effects. CSN2000, he said, caused farmhands to forget their god-given common sense. Although CSN2000 magically gave the cows irresistible teats, it sometimes caused the farmhands to milk the cow incessantly, so that the farmhand became obsessed with teats and could do nothing all day long but milk the damn cow. This is a side-effect see, because the internal farmhands were not supposed to milk their own cows with CSN2000. The internal farmhands were supposed to do other chores (like shovel shit) around their own farms and let external farmhands do the milking. But the lure of the magic teats, however, was too strong to resist and many farmhands in those farms fell into an abyss of sin.
Because of this side-effect, Farmer Jones decided not to use CSN2000, and even banned it in his farm. He would think of some other ways to boost his Golden Cow.
Many years later, Farmer Jones regretted this decision.
He saw that more and more farms were using CSN2000, as well as CSN2001, CSN2002, CSN2003 and even CSNXp (Service Pack 2). Farmer Jones began to worry. While his Golden Cow was still producing top quality milk, he was afraid that it would not be able to withstand the long term impact of the CSNs in other farms.
So Farmer Jones decided to bring in a CSN machine into his farm.
Alas! The farmhands on Farmer Jones' farm had already been conditioned over the years to believe that CSN machines were evil. Farmer Jones was afraid that if he brought in the CSN machine, his farmhands would all revolt, and possibly shift to other farms.
What to do? How to convince his farmhands that they needed the CSN machine?
Farmer Jones, being very smart, hatched a plan. He would tell his farmhands that he was considering bringing in a CSN machine, and that he required them to help him make this important decision. Now, Farmer Jones might have already made a decision, but nobody alive, except Farmer Jones himself, will ever know the truth about this.
And that was what Farmer Jones did.
As he had expected, there was a huge debate over this. Many farmhands objected, citing the evil lure of CSN machines, claiming that CSN machines will ultimately destroy their little families. Some said that this was against their religion (Super Heavenly Cow appeared in their dreams and told them so), and that the Golden Cow should not be the be-all and end-all of their farm. A group of farmhands even formed a petition! They called it FACTS - Farmhands Against CSN ThreatS. FACTS even got lots of other farmhands to join in this petition. Other farmhands, however, pointed out that CSN machines will ensure their farm's long term survival. They also said that even if Farmer Jones did not bring in a CSN machine, their own farmhands were already besotted with the CSN-enabled teats in other nearby farms. What was the difference between foreign CSN-enabled teats and local CSN-enabled teats?
After a long and arduous debate, Farmer Jones finally announced his decision. Having taken a long and hard look at the issues and the farmhands' concerns, he announced that he would remove the current ban on the CSN machines. On top of that, he would bring in not one, but two CSN machines, except they wouldn't really be like the old CSN machines.
Farmer Jones explained that the CSN machines will be revolutionized, and will less than 5% of two new machines, IntR0001 and IntR0002. These IntR models will not only give their Golden Cow more teats; they'd even decorate the teats so that the Golden Cow can attract all sorts of visitors from other farms, just dying to touch and milk the teats. Want fat teats? IntR0001 gives the Golden Cow fat teats. Want lean teats? IntR0002 gives the Golden Cow lean teats. Want family-oriented teats that the entire family can touch and milk together? IntR0001 is here.
He assured his restless farmhands that several safeguards against this new line of IntR machines would be established. For one, not everyone will be allowed to touch the teats willy-nilly. His own farmhands for example, had to pay $100 for each touching/ milking session, and the session would only last one day. Of course, being a fan of economies of scale, Farmer Jones also offered a package deal as well for more well-to-do farmhands who wanted year-long access to the exciting IntR machines and the magical teats. Farmer Jones promised that even though their own farmhands won’t be encouraged to milk the teats, they could still maintain the IntR machines instead, because the IntR machines were labor intensive. Farmer Jones promised he wouldn't hire too many external farmhands to man the IntR machines, so that his own farmhands could have more jobs! Wasn't that great! (Of course, Farmer Jones maintained a suitably serious and troubled face while he was saying this, so that his farmhands could tell he was troubled and clearly torn in two regarding IntRs.)
Many farmhands got pissed.
They accused Farmer Jones of using the debate to disguise the fact that the decision was already made long ago. They bemoaned that their farm had lost its standards of purity. They screamed that the lure of the teats was too powerful for a mere $100 milking fee. They suggested that it was time to slaughter the sacred Cow. Other farms too, sniggered that Farmer Jones wanted to have his cow's milk and slaughter it for beef too.
This continued for some time and after a while, Farmer Jones lost his patience.
He told his farmhands firmly, that it was time to stop flogging this dead horse. The decision to bring in the IntR machines had been made. It was now time to work together as a team to make sure that the transition to the IntR era be as smooth as possible. Further debate on an already settled topic was counter-productive. Farmer Jones also reiterated that he respected the diverse views of his farmhands, and was even happy that many objected to the IntR machines. However, it was time for everyone to stop talking, and move on. The Golden Cow was excreting a lot, and everyone should just agree with Farmer Jones, stop arguing, get with the program and continue the daily shoveling of waste products.
What else could the farmhands do, since the decision had been made and Farmer Jones clearly thought they couldn't shovel shit and still debate the IntR machines at the same time? What else could the farmhands do, when their esteemed Farmer Jones issued a barely-veiled warning to unite or be labeled a polarizing miscreant in their multi-species, multi-vitamin farm?
What should the farmhands do, dear readers?
---
This is a work of fiction. The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are entirely fictitious and any resemblance to the names, character, or history of any person is coincidental and unintentional. Anyone who thinks this entry is societal or political in nature or that it was inspired by this article is totally mistaken. I swear upon the Golden Cow.
Now let's moo on.
What was hilarious and maddening at the same time however, was the Gossip Topic of the Hour, which I'm guessing is "Verbal Bashing of University-Educated Arseholes". Among other heinous crimes, University students (that's right, ALL of them) are charged with having "shit for brains" and therefore"cannot think", while being "inhumane" and "uncompassionate".
Really.
I'm sure some university-educated people fit the bill, but surely not all? I wonder who or what has gotten their goats. Short of hurling The Grapes of Wrath (Ha Jin's novels are too thin) at their heads, thereby adding "abusive" and "violent" to their already mile-long litany of faults, I could only exit the store. Perhaps I have stayed on to defend the honour of University-educated people, but my nerves were not up to the task. Faced with two 1000-words-a-minute women, discretion is the better part of valour.
This education divide is worrisome. Already, there is a strong distinction between University graduates and non-graduates. The fact that University graduates are often lumped together as the "elite" (which is so not true) makes matters worse. The fact that there are different classes of graduates doesn't help either. Asking graduates to mingle with non-graduates may mitigate the problem somewhat, but as long as such misconceptions of superiority exist, this reverse-snobbery will never be eradicated. How sad.
This reminds me of the one time I was buying some Christmas presents in Crabtree Evelyn (Ngee Ann City branch). While I was making my payment, the two salesgirls tittered excitedly at the sight of a man who had just entered the store and both almost swooned at his sex appeal while telling each other that he's her type. And there I was: invisible, geeky and deaf to boot.
Maybe we should just ban salesgirls from gossiping and all our social problems will go away. There's a thought.
With Mendocino, SAP, of SAP/R3 fame, looks set to put more heat on Oracle. The latter has also previously made alliances with Microsoft, tying up their DBMS products with the .NET platform. That relationship, of course, went South when Microsoft announced plans to consort with Oracle's enemy, SAP. According to this funny and short read, Larry Ellison (Oracle's founder) hates Gates so much that he "made Carly Fiorina's (HP's high-profile ex-CEO) hatred of Dell seem like puppy love". SAP should watch its back though, for Microsoft can always work with Oracle (a bit hard to swallow I admit) unless the alliance is exclusive and legally binding. That's what we all need... a ménage à trois between the Top Three Software Giants. Strange bedfellows indeed.
So, what to make of my verbal fart? This is all Microsoft's fault. Hah. I do admire Gates' tenacity in ensuring that Microsoft stays on top of its competition (and I'm not talking about Apple) though. Their competitive strategy might be very aggressive, but aside from disgust and hatred from the general public, it seems to working like a dream. What's a few broken toes (and fingers and arms and necks and other assorted body parts) along the road to worldwide office domination anyway? Very little, especially when they belong to its competitors. Right. I better stop farting, lest I become the first Singaporean blogger to get slapped with a defamation suit from the God of Desktops.
Update: Proof that Microsoft is intent on domination. Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information Server) is allegedly favoured by MSN search. As Slashdot puts it: Well, Duh!
link to video here: [original site] [mirror]
In addition, for the D&D Fan:
Why Boots Of Escaping Are Useless
This confirms that Boots of Escaping are useless against Gun of Misfiring. No kobolds were harmed in the making of this video. At least, that's what the creators of the comedy Reno 911! claim.
Blasphemy no doubt.
A quick check with the OED reveals that the top use of install is supposed to be:
To invest with an office or dignity by seating in a stall or official seat, as the choir-stall of a canon in a cathedral, or that of a Knight of the Garter or Bath in the chapel of his order, the throne of a bishop, etc. Hence, To instate in an office, rank, etc. with the customary ceremonies or formalities. Often with complemental extension. [OED Online]
Right. This is why I doubt that OED is The Definitive Record of the English Language, if there is such a thing in the first place.
"Heather and Jessica know fully well that people, especially women, come to the site not just for the photo[s] but also the misogynistic cruelty. So, it's in their best interests to continue to be as misogynistic [Me: You know, I always thought misogynists were men... I learn something new everyday!] , cruel and vicious as possible.
So, the viciousness and misogyny in the comments will only continue to get worse as the bible-thumping soccer moms and sex-crazed men [Me: hey Hey HEY! Who's he calling sex-crazed?! Me?! Well if it weren't for sex he wouldn't be here now would he?!] (who of course are blameless, innocent, honest men who fall into temptation from dirty sluts completely unlike Heather and Jessica themselves) try to one-up Heather and Jessica. [Me: bible-thumping soccer moms trying to be more misogynistic than the duo... hum... I KNOW there's a contradiction in here somewhere.]
Someone here will post something soon that calls for the fug to be raped and beaten. Now that will be such fun!!!I can't wait. Most likely, it will be a woman of course. [Me: HA! Who's the sex-crazed man now?] " [kenton]
Me? Misogynistic? Well hell. And here I thought I was just being infantile/ shallow. Jessica (1/2 of the Fugly Duo) had this to say:
"News to {bleeping}
How DARE you imply that Heather or I are ADVOCATING RAPE?
I find it amazing that people think Heather or I have any kind of societal AGENDA, when basically we are anti UGLY OUTFITS [Me: Ok ok, I don't really get this. Women Against Bad Fashion don't fall under societal agenda? Gasp.] .
If you find this site offensive, then I strongly suggest you STOP READING IT."
So, no more comments on Go Fug Yourself. Shucks.
Blocking comments are not uncommon among local blogs... Xiaxue has done it a couple of times when comments turned sour. Another entry that could be block-worthy is this one, although I believe it won't be, because most (including me) have given up debating in that warzone. Often, comments that are posted are totally irrelevant to the entry itself, and the discussion can become downright emotional and vicious (full of knnb ccb and what not). The worst part is that the owner of the blog has to bear the cost of the webhosting (no, traffic isn't free!) as well as a large part of the responsibility for posting that "rabble-rousing" entry.
Ah well, I guess I just have to make do with the pictures and the Fugly Duo's commentary. Comments anyone?
As an astute reader points out, the OS market has traditionally been one where developers silently (but blatantly) copy innovation from other developers, so cutthroat is the competition to be the first-in-market. This finger-pointing is probably going to be used by the FOSS camp as a justification of commercialization stunting innovation and growth.
Of course, I find Mr. Jobs' accusations ("They not only copy us, they do it slowly too!") rather dubious. I would think that a difference in time-to-market of about 1 year implies that Microsoft is at the very least amending/ improving on the features they alledgedly copied. In that case, by building upon earlier features from its competition, Microsoft is innovating in a sense, is it not? Otherwise, in the same vein, Creative should also be flogged for "copying" Apple's iPod (I don't think anyone will want to copy iShuffle).
Where does innovation end and imitation begin?
Considering Apple's dismal fiscal and technological track record during the absence of Jobs, I think Jobs should spend more time worrying that Apple can continue innovating without him. Sorry. Can't help taking that jibe at Apple.
Update:
Is it just me, or is the resemblance uncanny? (Uncanny X-men... got it?) What is it with the fixation on 'X' anyway? Gender discrimination? It's usually males who go for both techno toys and comics. It seems to me the least they could do is to use 'Y' (chromosome Y that is) sometimes. Y-men. OS Y.
No, not my laptop. Jasper Rine's laptop. Dr. Rine is a professor at UC Berkeley, which ironically won accolades for campus security. Short of calling NASA to shoot deadly laser beams down at the thief, Dr. Rine has sworn swift and unforgiving measures by way of FBI and U.S Marshals, because of the "Top Secret Trial and Industrial Information" residing on the laptop. These information were gathered from his consulting career, which I might add should be ending really soon.
I do think Mr. Rine's threats are nothing but hollywood-style BS however. Many others think so too. I'd be nervous enough to spout hot-air if I were him, seeing as how I'm about to lose so much painstakingly gathered data and client confidence. If he'd actually said the things he said during an IT lecture, he'd be laughed out of the lecture hall. There were so many technical inconsistencies in his little rant, that one could write an essay that simply focused on refuting his claims. Sad to say dear sir, specific instances of electronic duplication is virtually unverifiable, unless planned in the first place. Nonetheless, I wish Dr. Rine all the best in retrieving his laptop and preserving his international dignity (going by the fark forum, the latter is batting negative).
Links to the relevant bit of the video can be found via Boing Boing, and I've taken the liberty of mirroring the mp4 here. Use Media Player to view. Kudos to caustic.soda for first noticing it. His link to the vid however, seems to be down, and I've also been blocked from his website due to spamming (I believe this is the first time I've been called a spammer). Good thing my IP should change within a few minutes thanks to DHCP.
The latter must not happen because I must remain infantile, if only to spite.
Rather than rage and rant in a philosophical defense of local blogs, I will instead write about what I call "mental colonialism".
Any one who has studied a bit of local history (heck, history period) knows what colonialism is. Mental colonialism is its less tangible counterpart. Like its cousin, mental colonialism seeks to impose a set of foreign rules, guidelines and perceptions on the subverted. Unlike its cousin, mental colonialism is still prevalent today, and can be seen in international prescriptive politics where politicians blithely criticize other politicians using their own set of moral and political values. More often than not, Singapore has been accused by Western observers to be technocratic. We are likened to brainless and apathetic lambs, while any display of outspokenness, whether appropriate or not, is lauded as a sign of maturity.
In a day and age where their own political administration and ways of life are in unheaval, these mental colonialists cannot but help impose their standards on others. In little or significant ways, they tell us how we should speak, how we should think, how we should behave.
Now, we are told how to blog.
I am constantly amazed at their audacity. On the other hand, I also wonder why these people do not return to their own country, or if they are already there, why they continue to bother with us. Out of goodwill? So that we can see the error of our ways and repent?
It is not that I am narrow-minded. Anyone can post a comment below this, and tell me in no uncertain terms that I suck. By all means, offer suggestions and comments. This is not a society that does not condone voices which are not our own.
But, and it's a huge but here, do not tell us how to run our lives. The age of colonialism is over. South East Asia might have been under the thumbs of Western super powers for a long time (some say we are still under their economic thumbs), but we are slowly coming into our own. Grow with us by all means, but do not enforce standards of western thought and perceptions on us, or label us ignorant, uncivilized brutes when we reject prescriptive advice.
Globalization might mean that the lines between East and West have been blurred beyond recognition, but that does not give anyone the authority to disrespect our ways of life.
Is this an over-reaction to a sole, disrespectful, possibly elitist Westerner? Very likely. I have foreign acquaintances too, and am not so stupid as to lump all of them together. Do not mistake this post as a diatribe against all things Western: I am a person brought up by both bah gwah and McDonald's.
But do I think that labeling Singapore blogs as infantile is a disturbing instance of mental colonialism?
Undoubtably yes.
Top View
Top/ Side View (note the cool underjaw! Made by a simple rabbit fold.)
Dragon A turned out pretty well. It's in flight, and looks pretty sleek and streamlined. For origami fans, this is basically a variation of the crane, with an additional lower jaw folded in to give it the fearsome I'm-going-to-bite-you-hard-and-then-spit-fire look. The only problem was that it didn't stand/ sit very well since like the crane, it doesn't have legs. This gave rise to...
Not bad actually, for a first-time dragon folder. I'll work on Version A more and see what happens. Anyone who wants one can get me more EDTs.
Get "Once and Again" here.
Took me a very long time to format this one, primarily because of the length. Utterly energy-sapping. I always do such stupid things during reading week!
And yes, it's a romance. Whoever feels that a guy cannot write romance in peace can just come and look for me.
I'll whack you with my handbag.
Hot off the press:
- PSP gets premium adult content thanks to Playboy. If Lara Croft ever gets ported over to PSP, she'll have to battle with the Playboy Bunnies for playtime. Sorry Lara, toting big and gorgeous... ... ... guns ain't gonna cut it no more. Not when the Playboy Bunnies can flounce on the PSP screen with their bigger... ... ... guns. And those who say Playboy's articles are erudite? Well, you'll have to look elsewhere for your source of intelligent material. The PSP version will only have the bunnies. Game Boy Advance should retaliate, although with its intended market I cannot imagine how. Perhaps get Barney the dino to pose naked? Oh wait... he is naked already. Hmmm.
Interviewer: Are you afraid of long hours?
Me: I think anyone in this field is no stranger to long hours. (slight chuckle to buy time) What sort of long hours are you referring to?
What the... Looking for slave labour is it?
Interviewer: Oh, it's not regular you understand. It's because we're rushing on this project, and may require you to stay back till about 9pm at nights.
Me: I see I see. 9pm is definitely not that late. I'm actually used to 1am nights.
9pm?! The pay better be reasonable...
... later
Interviewer: So do you have any questions for me?
Me: Can I ask about the renumeration for this internship? NUS doesn't provide any details about that.
Interviewer: Oh. We'll be paying the interns around $550 a month.
Me: (Shell shocked) ... ... ...
@#%$#^%#$^$%! $550 a month for 8am - 9pm work days?! Harlow! Student Programmer != Slave!
Interviewer: So how do you find the job description?
Me: Very challenging and competitive.
Challenging because one has to work and starve at the same time. Competitive because all the students will be competing not to get this.
When I reached the elevator, I sniggered so loudly that the other passengers probably thought I was having an asthma attack.
Interviewer: So, do you have any interests in music?
Me: Well I listen to it. (weak, very weak laugh) I also use software like dbPowerAMP and Audacity to convert and tweak sound files.
I sing in the bathroom too... does that count?
Interviewer: Well, we'll keep you informed. There're still over 40 students applying for this internship, though.
Me: Ha ha. Ok. Sure, I understand.
Look me in the eye when you say that...
Needless to say, I didn't land this internship as well. The place, IR2, is a very posh-looking building located within NUS. They even have 3 security guards as receptionists, plus a gigantic plasma TV, which nobody watches, in the lobby. How classy is that. It's funded by A*Star, so that's your tax dollars at work I might add. (Do I sound bitter?)
It was the third internship which was successful. The job is interesting and challenging (not in the sense of interview #1), and the only drawback is that I did not dare jeopardize my chances by asking for details on renumeration. Stupid stupid stupid.
I don't post this entry with the intention of disparaging the firms which are looking for interns from NUS. However, I honestly think that some firms treat these industrial attachments as an opportunity to get themselves cheap coders to help meet software deadlines. Some students might not mind that, but others like me will. What's in it for me? "Learning" and "experience" are the usual replies, but that doesn't mean students have to settle for rock bottom pay. ($550 a month with extended working hours works out to $2/ hour. MacDonald's rate for a coding job?) The pay should at least be commensurate with the number of hours put in and/ or the finished product. Otherwise, industrial attachments are simply a way of exploiting undergraduates.
Furthermore, firms should also state their requirements up front. Both these two interviews shocked me with their hidden agendas and requirements. Finding out during interviews that your technical skill set doesn't match the job despite passing the resume round and that you have not a prayer of a chance against 40 other applicants can be pretty demoralizing.
Like interviewees who do not handle interviews properly put themselves in a bad light, interviewers who do not conduct interviews properly risk putting their firm in a very bad light. The latter however, is one side of the equation which doesn't get acknowledged often in articles.
the very instance of flight,
comes hope,
ecstasy,
discovery,
then the very first moment of
fright.
What tragedy may
strike,
what dreams may break,
what fate can deal with terror,
fear alike.
From daring flight
to possessed fight-
fierce as lightning,
for life’s profound height,
comes disaster,
an awry blight.
The goal is lost
and all seems bleak.
Suddenly,
with a twist
of the kaleidoscope,
from sorrow
to elation,
from gloom
to jubilation,
a new hope dawns,
a new light breaks-
courage soars,
and cowardice falls-
a new found strength,
a new born faith.
As the wind beneath caresses
and strokes, fly
to a bright new gleam,
a now clear land,
on stronger,
better,
truer
wings.
Bewildering.
Adobe is famous for its proprietary PDF format (which I must say loads slower than my grandmother running 2.4km) and Photoshop (... 4.8 km). Macromedia is famous for Flash and Dreamweaver. Sounds like a conglomerate merger to me really. Unless we are talking about the less popular, cannot-make-it software like Fireworks, Freehand and GoLive. I can't see how the merger lets them bash into the handheld communications market though.
Macromedia needs to be more user-friendly and stable. Adobe needs to branch out (and reduce software loading time dammit). It'd be nice to have one entire suite of quality web authoring products. Software pirates can soon get everything in one convenient download. Snigger.
I think the decision to lift the ban was long decided. Many cabinet members have dropped obvious hints, with MM Lee taking the lead. Personally, I find the concerns of many parties to be unfounded. The most common fear is that casinos will lead to many families being broken up. AWARE and FACTS present the typical arguments against casinos. While certainly valid to some extent, they became hyperbolic at a point. FACTS in particular, directly charges casinos with corrupting the "fundamental values of growing a family", nevermind that gambling addictions are one but many ways that a family can break up. They imply that countries without casinos rest on a higher moral ground than those which do, which is beyond ludicrous.
"When the fundamental values of growing a family is affected by economic expediency, we as a society, must have the maturity and the courage to say "NO". Whatever the so-called economic value that is touted."
Brave words from FACTS, which conveniently glosses over the fact that many who oppose the casino enjoy a way of life that is brought about by "economic expediency". Furthermore, I also find the dichotomous usage of familial values with casinos objectionable. Every family, indeed every person, establishes their own guiding values. Shifting the entire blame to the external environment implies that we are a nation of weak-willed fools who will succumb to whatever temptations placed in front of us. Original sin or not, such arguments do not endear me to their cause.
Perhaps the most useful mindset is one that is equally moderate, practical and yet concerned. Alarmist reactions will do no one good.
1) discovered how to get free mp3s
a) Go to allofmp3
b) Register
c) Use your bonus USD$0.2 to get approximately 2 mp3s
d) Log out
e) Repeat b) with another email account
If you're like me and have your own email administration system, then theoretically, you can repeat the cycle while creating and deleting email accounts. The low price paid for each mp3 is apparently due to Russian copyright law, which is vastly different from the US copyright laws (RIAA can only convulse on the floor). Because of this and the loophole in site policy (at least for now), this gives me a chance to legally (sort of) get as many mp3s as I want. I've already gotten several obscure Elton John songs!
2) fallen in love
It was love at first sight. She is curvy and sleek in all the right places, and will look perfect in my bedroom, where I can see her every day and every night. She'll cheer me up when I'm down, entertain me when I'm bored, seduce me when I'm in the mood, sit and look pretty when I'm not (she has even inspired me to rhyme, the above-mentioned plus this line). She'll beckon me in my dreams, and will be the first thing I see when I wake up and turn my face in the morning . She is the Aphrodite of every geek.
Who is she?
HP's media center, that's who. 200 gig of HD space, built in TV tuner, digital media slots, 19-inch glorious flat screen, wireless capabilities, LightScribe Dual Layer, zooming graphic card (with upgrade) and processor, coupled with a babelicious design that makes techie hounds bay at the moon.
Perfect complement for my desk. *drool*
3) invented an extreme sport
a) Get a another person (I got my brother)
b) Clear a table tennis table, or just a large size table
c) Get two table tennis bats and a table tennis ball
d) First player serves (the similarities with table tennis end here)
e) Second player smacks ball across table as hard as possible, aiming at the other player
f) A round ends if a player gets hit or fails to return a ball.
Warning. Remove all fragile items. Killer Pong inflicts physical damage:
Interesting how a round ball makes a halo welt!
Today was the last day of lessons. FINALLY! This normally calls for major celebration, if not for the fact that exams are little over a week away and I am totally unprepared for them.
CS3254 - 25%
CS4252 - 10%
CS4253 - 10%
EN2111 - 20%
GEK1527 - 5%
This liberation is very likely a faux liberation, since I will be bound to my books. Plus, if my IAP application was successful, then I will be whisked into internship 4 days after exams end. If the application was unsuccessful, then I will be eating air for quite sometime. Woe.
Sudden Riches
Received the cashback from my insurance company today. It's really foolish to treat it as bonus cash, since I pay a premium every month in exchange for it. But I can't help it. This extra cash makes me very happy. Very. Nevermind that this is theoretically my money to begin with. This cashback gives me an urge to want to go out and splurge, especially since Liberation has arrived.
The only thing stopping me is this annoying little voice at the back of my head telling me to save up for a rainy day, or for that graduation trip next year. Dammit. Wish that voice would just curl up and die.
Mental Torture
Kenneth Cole has branched out into watches. Spotted one fabulous looking one in Metro yesterday. It was placed with 2 other KC watches with leather straps, both priced at a reasonable $188. Therefore I stupidly assumed the last of the trio, this one, cost around the same. A steal really. I went back today and tried it on, but the price tag! Argh... almost twice as expensive as the leather version! Nearly kicked the counter in frustration. Metal is cheaper than leather right?! Right!? So why the drastic price difference? Grumble.
So, up to the games shop I went. Lo and behold. Jade Empire is out for XBox, retailing at the usual $70. KOTOR II was sitting on the pre-owned shelves, going for $40. I swear I ran out of the shop screaming.
Why'd I go in there if not to look for games? I don't know. I must have this sado-masochistic streak in me that likes mental torture. Now that I've received the cash back, this mental torture is amplified 500 times. I'm practically drowning in it.
Resist resist. What won't kill me will only make me stronger.
Our project team screwed up a class presentation. No way to put it gently. Had it been a business presentation course, we'd have flunked out of it. As it is, I think we did flunk the presentation. What's more important, however, is the next presentation on Friday, which due to a weird quirk of fate known as EL2111, I cannot attend.
So my rant today is not about our performance. It was bad, admittedly, but we learn and move on.
What we cannot move away from however, are certain types of people who have the need to totally stand out from the crowd as if they were tailored for the SMU marketing drive, which will have you think their students perpetually hop around rather than walk. These same people stand on the table for a simple self-introduction (this is not a play on words unfortunately), overdress at the grocers, gell their hair up with enough chemicals to deplete the ozone layer above the country. These same people are conscientious enough to turn up in full suits when everyone else is in long sleeves and assorted standard office wear, but cannot make it a point to arrive on time for presentations (the better for them to make a collective grand entrance). These same people stay in their own cliques, and will die before socializing with "lesser" mortals. Yep. These people.
I realize I must sound like a green-eyed loser who's been outclassed, but while I admit my wardrobe and personality is not as flamboyant, I do not think that being outclassed is all it is. This actually brings to mind the previous hot-topic of heartlanders vs cosmopolitans. It's more of a clash between cultures and personalities rather than performance alone. I am no stranger to being outclassed really. Not when I have friends who complete 3 degrees (with 1 in a foreign language) in 5 years, study some obscure branch of physics in Yale, or possess enough discipline to wake at the crack of dawn everyday to study, work or exercise (guess who?). I'm not stupid enough to not realize that there are many others stronger than me in certain areas. It's more of how I am being outclassed.
Pure talent? Fine.
Flashy suits, smarmy smiles, fake accents (absurd I swear... 1 year in the States is enough to wipe all traces of a local accent away... get real), blatant false advertising? Not fine.
I must do something about this. No point whining about it and not doing anything. No, I'm not going to kill or maim anyone, so no worries there (or is that a sigh of disappointment? I must admit that the thought of kicking the table from under the person who hops on it to introduce himself gives me perverse pleasure). What I'll do is to take this as a wake-up call to up my game. If I get this worked-up in school, then it'll be even tougher to tolerate them when I start work. And like Agent Smiths in the Matrix, they will be legion.
My bazookas will be primed.
Meanwhile, CS4253 awaits. I've actually got several googles for CS3214. The latter is a compulsory module in my course and we actually learnt quite a bit (nothing from the lecturer I assure you), so I'd recommend anyone who's looking for advice and is reading this post to go for it. Be sure to get a reliable team though, else the module will make it seem like the Apocalypse has come (actually, even with a fab team, one may still experience the feeling). As for CS4253, well... prepare to put in long hours.
Long and painful hours.
Long and painful hours wandering from journal to journal to journal.
Long and painful hours wandering from journal to journal to journal, wondering if there's some better framework to use.
Long and painful hours wandering from journal to journal to journal, wondering if there's some better framework to use, while frantically IMing your team mates to see if they've made progress.
Long and painful hours wandering from journal to journal to journal, wondering if there's some better framework to use, while frantically IMing your team mates to see if they've made progress plus praying for a messiah to arrive and deliver a proper report into your lap.
I swear, if anyone needs help in dispelling the glamourous aura surrounding the field of consulting, then by all means take this module. It'll thoroughly disabuse you of your misconceptions, faster than you can say "hot shot consultants have all the babes". What they get are eyebags, throbbing headaches, uncontrollable spasms and twitches, IM nicks that are variations of "some1 pls keel me" and a burning desire to well... burn down something. Ugh.
Elsewhere in the world:
- Sociology prof designs a system Qualrus to help him grade sociology essays. Honestly. I bet within 3 or 4 batches of students, everyone would have gathered enough information regarding how the system works, producing stellar essays that are designed for the software to grade. That or some enterprising artsie would have hired a nerdy hacker to obtain and reverse engineer the application. Who knows, then there'll be silent copies of software to generate essays that Qualrus will award full marks to. The artsies should rebel. Why are they paying school fees for a software to grade their essays? And how was Qualrus tested anyway? Was it tested based on student essays? Whose logic does it adopt? The professor's? So now it's not only subjective, but also inflexibly subjective? Somebody should fire the professor.
- Also, men are found to spend more on video games than music. Well, this is certainly true for me, at least since I got my XBox. One reason I can give is that music files come in much smaller sizes. Easier to get over p2p applications. Why buy them? Not that I do it of course. Ahem.
- Finally, how to blog anonymously. If that seems too troublesome, I offer a better solution: Don't. Use a pen, paper and a locked drawer. Never worry that your boss will find out that you're bad-mouthing him. Lacks the thrill of publicizing your rants, but if you want to play, then don't whine about anonymity.
1) My first exam is in 3 weeks time
2) I haven't revised for my first exam
3) I haven't revised for my second, third, fourth and fifth exams
4) I have two presentations this week
5) I have two essays due this week
6) I have one humongous report and presentation due next week
7) I'm out of hair gel
8) Mai HIME has finished its run- and I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms
9) I have to wait and see if I get shortlisted for the IDA scholarship... see post on waiting.
10) I have no money.
Notice it's all me me me me here. Yep. Feeling a bit selfish.
Aside:
Was reading some notes on the train. A late 80s/ early 90s article on management consulting. One article noted how Singapore was the only south-east asian country which emerged relatively unscathed due to foresight and good planning. Whether or not that's true (I wouldn't say we emerged unscathed altogether for one), it made me realize that our generation indeed has lots to be thankful for. Instead of criticizing PAP, I think we must not lose sight of the fact that they have sheparded the country through many rough times. That's something which we should give props to. I'm not against criticizing when there's cause, just that I think we should give due accolades as well. And no, I'm not trying to weasel my way into a scholarship. I don't think the powers that be will google applicants anyway.
If they did, I'm first in line! Whoo hoo! For this moment in time, my name is top of the list in Google! That doesn't sound very woeful. Nevermind.
Divine.
I initially thought that it smelt like chewing gum, but that was 1 box and 1 layer of wrapping paper away. With those gone, Eternity has a woodsy and tangy scent that is both rich and light. Very sophisticated. It's not a new scent by any means, but since I tend to get "hooked" like an addict when I latch on to a scent that I like, I typically avoid testing EDTs. It's like I have a pavlovian instinct to own those, all the more if they are packaged in a come-fondle-me bottle.
My collection so far:
l'eau par Kenzo (pour homme), 1 50ml (1/4 left) and 1 100 ml standing-by
My usual scent. Mild, citrus-based, fresh and never overpowering.
Tommy Hilfiger, 1 50ml
Tangy and rich.
CK One, 1 100ml
My usual scent prior to Kenzo. Light and classic scent.
Boss Elements Aqua, 1 50ml
Strong, lasting and powerful. Best worn when you want to appear rich.
Body Shop of a man, 1 100ml
Citrus based and light. Unfortunately, it now irks me. Used as an occasional air freshener. Good thing it was cheap.
Adding the 15ml Eternity to the list, that's almost 500ml of scent. Enough to last me about 5 years. Definitely should not get a larger bottle of CK Eternity. *smacks self*
It's odd how I'm no metrosexual (hah) and yet I have so many bottles of fragances. I've also noticed this recent tendency of mine to admire shoes that are way too expensive. This does not bode well for my retire-by-35 gameplan. Not unless some obscure relative dies and I inherit millions of dollars that can be squandered away on cars, shoes, suits, gadgets and houses.
And EDTs of course.
Oh the agony....
Anyway, the bottom-line is I am now equipped with a swanky new mobile phone with enough functions to put all other mobile phones to shame. So hear me roar.
It's got a VGA camera with 2x zoom, video + sound recording, large and gorgeous screen, bluetooth, hot swappable MMC, media player, wireless presenter, powerpoint and word document viewer, an English-Chinese + Chinese-English dictionary and some other applications that perform arcane functions that improve your life in areas that you didn't know needed improving. Oh and it makes phonecalls too! There're some online reviews that mentioned stability and reliability issues though, so I'll be keeping an eye on it while the warranty lasts.
The next phone I get will fly me to Mars and back I swear.